


Serpent's Embrace

by ID_Locke



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Naga, breeding spikes, hemi-penis, perceived deformity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-30 02:01:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18305900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ID_Locke/pseuds/ID_Locke
Summary: Deagan, a Jinn, follows tracks on his farm to find and hopefully kill whatever has been upsetting his larinvacs. What he finds is far beyond what he ever dreamed possible. The Hidden One, Hylocereus, Elder God of Mysteries, Oracle of the Gods, has come to him because of a vision he had featuring Deagan. What Hylocereus tells Deagan will change everything for not only Deagan but Hylocereus as well.





	Serpent's Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> This is a standalone piece for yet another God/mortal pairing in my Divine Worship World. Hylocereus gets mentioned in other works of mine but this is the story of how he is finally able to tell Deagan everything and begin the relationship that has been in the making since literally the dawn of the universe.
> 
> Any spelling/grammatical errors are mine alone as this is basically brain to page and has had no edits done to it aside from spellcheck.
> 
> If people are curious, I can also post a photo of Hylocereus and Deagan. Let me know in comments if you want that and I hope you enjoy this story.

** Serpent’s Embrace **

 ~Deagan~

 Something very large and predatory had been roaming around my farm for several days. It was making my animals skittish and that wasn’t good. Aside from frightening them, which I wasn’t happy about, it could affect the quality of their fur if they were stressed over a long enough period of time. Not only that, there was a better than average chance that whatever the predator was, it would get bold enough to actually attack and eat one of my larinvacs if I didn’t do something about it.

 Larinvacs were expensive to buy and oddly particular about grouping into a herd. Replacing one would be a hardship both financially and on an animal management level. A lone larinvac was more prone to predation and the quality of their fur suffered as they’d frequently be stressed over not having the closeness and protection of the herd. It could take weeks to get a herd to accept a new member. Sometimes the herd simply wouldn’t.

 I sighed and started walking the fence line again. I wasn’t sure what was upsetting the larinvacs, but I needed to put a stop to it if I could. Aside from the fact that the larinvac were what helped to keep a roof over my head and food on the table, I genuinely liked the individual members of my small herd and didn’t want anything bad to happen to any of them.

 Except maybe Phil.

 Phil was a pain in my ass. He was just naturally mean-tempered to everybody; me and the other larinvacs in the herd included even though we’d never done a damn thing to him. Bastard had bitten, kicked and spit at me more times than I wanted to think about. But he was a damn good fur provider and his coat was a gorgeous pure white that took dye exceptionally well. Ease of dying larinvac fur was a bit of a rarity so he was quite valuable for that alone. He was a very good breeder, too, which increased his value and tipped me over into grudgingly keeping him around.

 I sighed again as I walked, my eyes to the ground looking for tracks of whatever was stirring up my herd, my bow held casually in case I needed to fire on something. I didn’t really want anything bad to happen to Phil either. Nasty attitude aside, he was a valuable animal. But, having the shit scared out of him wouldn’t break my heart either even if that could temporarily affect the quality of his fur.

 I was closer to my house than the ocean when I saw the first signs of something other than me or my larinvacs in the soft, grass-covered earth. What I saw made me draw in a breath and realize that I’d woefully underprepared to find and take care of whatever was stalking my herd.

 I’d thought maybe a wolf or even a griffon was the culprit. I’d had a wolf attack the herd a few times and I could handle that on my own without too much trouble. A griffon would be dicey to take on armed with just a bow and knife but I would probably be okay as long as I kept some distance between myself and the griffon. If I could pepper it with arrows from a distance it would either take the heavy hint and leave for easier prey or it would slowly bleed out. Either way, my problem would be solved.

 The undulating track in the earth was unmistakeably serpentine but it was huge. Bigger than anything I’d ever seen. A chill slide down my spine at the thought that I might be about to come up on a lesser wyrm. I didn’t know of anything else that would leave a track as wide and deep as what I was seeing.

Lesser wyrms were highly dangerous not only due to their size and power but because they were also highly intelligent and able to plot and strategize their attacks. They could even do magic although thankfully nothing on the level of a dragon regardless of how old the lesser wyrm was. To the best of my knowledge a lesser wyrm hadn’t been spotted in the area in over a decade but that didn’t mean there weren’t any prowling around. It only meant it hadn’t let anyone spot it as it went about its business.

 I could do some minor magic but nothing that would really be effective against something like a lesser wyrm. My spells were more of the home and hearth variety that any Jinn could do than any type of battle magic. I’d either amuse or piss off a lesser wyrm if I tried to throw magic at it. I still didn’t know for sure that it was the tracks of a lesser wyrm that I was seeing but nothing else I knew of fit the size and depth of the tracks.

_Shit._

 I stood there staring at the depression in the ground wondering what to do. If I did nothing right now and went home, whatever it was would continue to scare my herd and possibly eat some of them. Hell, for all I knew, the creature could come after me and eat me, too, once it finished with my herd.

 I could certainly hire someone to come hunt down and kill whatever was after my herd. It could take a few days or even a week, if not longer, before I found someone willing to hunt down whatever this creature was. The closest town to my farm was not a bustling metropolis and it would take time for word of what I needed to get to the appropriate ears. It was even possible that I could lose one of my herd while waiting for a hunter with the skills to take down the creature.

_Fuck._

 If I kept going forward and followed the tracks, I’d probably be walking my ass into a lot more trouble than I’d be able to get out of without divine intervention based on the size and depth of the tracks. My god was merciful and would aid his faithful but he generally didn’t reward wilful stupidity. If I kept following the tracks, knowing that I was probably way out of my depth, that smacked of wilful stupidity to me and I doubted there would be any divine intervention.

 The creature had been very cagey about leaving tracks over the last few days which meant it was smart enough to know to hide its presence. That really pointed to lesser wyrm to me. Today was the first time I’d actually found any tracks. That worried me and made me wonder if it was getting ready to make its move against my herd and didn’t care if its tracks were now visible.

 Or had it purposefully left the tracks to lure me out here to eat me first, away from the herd so they wouldn’t get spooked, before taking its time snacking on my then completely defenceless herd? Larinvacs weren’t very good at fighting off predators and generally ran away but they always returned to their home territory, which was terribly convenient for a predator if it was smart and patient.

 If I did go back home now I might not be able to pick up its tracks again given how careful the creature had been previously. It could vanish on me and the next thing I knew, some of my herd would probably be gone, eaten by whatever this creature was. Larinvacs could be a fairly easy meal, too, since they tended to panic when a large predator was near. They either froze in terror and basically let the predator eat them or ran like the wind.

 Gods damn it all to hell and back.

 I started forward again, moving cautiously, with the reasoning that if I at least confirmed what had made the track, I’d be able to tell a hunter what it was and give a reasonable estimate of its size so he or she could kill it for me. I knew my limits and taking on even a young lesser wyrm was way above my skill level. I could hunt small game decently and deal with medium-sized predators reasonably well but trying to take down a lesser wyrm was a big, fat not-a-hope-in-hell prospect.

 The tracks stopped at the base of the large, lone, rather scraggly tree in the fenced pasture. The larinvacs liked to rub against the rough bark of the tree, using it as a scratching post of sorts. I smiled a little at the long, shiny, gossamer-like strands of larinvac fur caught in the bark. I’d have to remember to come back later when it was safe to gather that. Larinvac fur was too precious to let the winds take it.

 Assuming I got out of this bit of foolishness alive.

 I cautiously looked all around the tree but the tracks I’d been following just... vanished. That was odd and more than a little unsettling. I heard leaves rustle above my head that had nothing to do with the gentle breeze blowing and froze. To the best of my knowledge, lesser wyrms didn’t climb trees. That didn’t mean they didn’t though as I was no expert on the subject. What I knew about lesser wyrms would barely fill half a page. I swallowed hard and looked up with a sense of dread, bringing my bow up ready to shoot. If I got pounced on from above, I doubted I’d actually get a shot off but I readied myself anyway.

 I wasn’t an expert tracker by any stretch of the imagination but even a child could figure out that whatever left a track as wide as my torso and depressed the ground by several inches was something pretty damn big and heavy. Something the size of whatever had made the tracks couldn’t possibly hide in the sparse leaves of the tree I was looking at. There simply wasn’t enough cover.

 I heard soft, amused laughter as I squinted up at the tree but still couldn’t see anything in the branches. I backed away slowly and looked around but there was nothing nearby aside from the tree that could possibly provide any sort of cover. The larinvacs kept the grass to fairly short levels within the fenced area of the pasture and the line of the forest was a good fifty feet beyond the fence.

 “Are you looking for me?” asked a male voice that seemed to be coming from up in the branches of the tree even though there was nothing I could see in the tree.

 “Depends. Are you the one scaring my larinvacs? If that’s a yes, then yeah, I’m looking for you,” I answered hoping that sounding ballsy would give the creature pause from jumping me and potentially eating me.

 Worry and a healthy dose of fear settled in my belly. Lesser wyrms could speak. So could dragons. An enchanted snake might be able to. A snake familiar might be able to speak as well. Other than those creatures, I couldn’t think of anything else that was serpentine that could speak. Given the choice, I’d prefer if the creature was an enchanted snake or a familiar. I could probably deal with those on my own and not end up as dinner even if the creature was as huge as the tracks lead me to believe it was.

 “That was unintended. Apologies. I was only trying to gently get your attention and mean no harm to your animals.”

 “Okay, you have my attention now. Where are you? Who are you? What are you?” I asked as I tried in vain to see the individual in the tree.

 There was nothing to see no matter how hard I looked. That was more than a little unsettling. My unease increased when the thought that I might have a strong magic-user on my hands if he could remain completely unseen in the sparse leaves of the tree. That meant it was either a lesser wyrm or a dragon. Neither an enchanted snake or a snake familiar would be powerful enough to disguise itself so completely.

_Shit._

 “If I tell you who I am, you’ll stop speaking to me and I’ve waited a long time for this opportunity,” the male said gentle amusement in his voice.

 “Is that a twist on the if-I-tell-you-I’ll-have-to-kill-you line? If you don’t want to tell me, fine. I just want you to stop frightening my larinvacs. And not eat them. Or me.”

 That soft laughter sounded again but with a hint of something... more. Whatever that more was, it gave me a little shot of arousal. That was really weird and vastly confusing.

 Unless the creature was using some sort of high-level charm-type spell on me for some reason.

 Jinn had pretty good natural resistance to charm spells but it wasn’t immunity. If I was feeling the effects of a charm cast on me it meant that whatever was hiding in the tree was magically very powerful because I hadn’t felt a damn thing as far as having a spell cast on me. Generally, casting a charm spell on a Jinn was always detected by the Jinn because of our high natural resistance to that type of casting. If we didn’t feel the effects of a charm spell when one was cast on us, it meant either the caster was very powerful or the spell was high level or both.

  _Fuck_.

 “I have no intention of eating any of your larinvacs. They don’t interest me. You hold my interest like nothing else. Your life is perfectly safe with me. I’ll probably exhaust you with my attentions but I’m confident it’ll be something you’ll enjoy very much.”

 That wasn’t helping to ease my worries but at the same time I had the strangest tingle of arousal dance down my spine from his words. I tried to resist the feeling of arousal but it was persistent. I still couldn’t detect any sort of magical charm being directed at me. This was so not good.

 “Well that’s mildly confusing and unsettling. I don’t suppose you’d like to clarify that statement? Or show yourself? I’d like to at least see who I’m talking to even if you don’t want to tell me your name.”

 Silence greeted me for several long minutes and I sighed. Damn it! It had to be a lesser wyrm or a dragon. They loved to play word games and toy with their prey. That I hadn’t been eaten yet only meant that he was still enjoying the game. _Wonderful_.

 “Will you please leave? My larinvacs won’t come in from the ocean while you’re here because you frighten them. Technically, they’re fine to be in the water all the time but it messes with the quality of their fur which negatively affects my livelihood. That probably means little to you but I have gotten used to food on my table and a roof over my head and I’d like to keep it that way.”

 “I would like to get to know you better and have you know me before I reveal who and what I am. I’ve waited a long time, longer than you can imagine, for the right things to come together so that I could approach you. I’ve watched and waited and finally the time is right to come to you. You are incredibly unique and are what I’ve ached for.”

 The words and my suspicion of having a strong charm spell cast on me that made me feel arousal made me jump to a nasty conclusion in my mind and I scowled. I’d been pursued before with single-minded determination. The reasons behind that pursuit were not flattering and actually made me angry. I’d sworn that I wouldn’t let something like that happen again if there was anything I could possibly do to stop it.

 The tracks were probably some sort of setup to throw me off and lower my guard. The male was probably a Jinn and playing some sort of coy word game with me to further throw me off balance. By saying I was unique and what he’d been searching for with probably a strong charm spell tossed at me.... I really wasn’t liking the direction I thought this encounter was going. I’d actually rather deal with a hungry lesser wyrm than deal with what I thought this situation was going to be about.

 “Unique? Is that the word they’re using now?” I asked glaring up into the tree and hoping that he’d see his charm spell wasn’t working as well as he’d thought. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about me but I’m not so hard up for companionship that I’ll take whatever scraps people decide to throw my way. I’m certainly not some novelty to be played with just so you can get your jollies or say you had a turn with the freak of nature. I’m not going to make this easy for you so why don’t you save us both the trouble and fuck off right now.”

 I sounded angry when I said that but I couldn’t help it. It pissed me off when people made assumptions about me based on what they’d heard about my deformity. From my experience, the men who approached me out of the blue for some fun between the sheets either wanted to be able to boast about doing it with the freak or had some weird fetish about my deformity. Sometimes it was even a combination of the two. I didn’t like either variety of bed-mate. Being used that way made me feel ashamed and vaguely dirty.

 “Excuse me?” Confusion was in the male’s voice but I didn’t buy it.

 It was something of an open secret in the town and surrounding area that I lived in that I was a physical oddity among the Jinn. I’d had complete strangers walk up to me asking very personal questions they had no business asking. I’d even had more than one person demand to see my deformity because they didn’t believe it was true. That was humiliating when it happened in a public place as the people wanting to see what made me different were never quiet. That sort of thing was one of the reasons that kept me from frequenting the local bars any more. Drunk people were more prone to be very loudly rude about my deformity. There was no need to subject myself to that sort of behaviour and embarrassment.

 “You heard me. Or did you think I would fall all over myself at the opportunity to have a male in my bed despite what I am? Or maybe you thought your charm spell was powerful enough to overcome me so I’d simply spread my legs for you without thought? I’d rather do without than play the whore for others pleasure. I do have some self-respect, as strange as you may find it for someone like me. Was it Ranile running his mouth again? Ignorant, petty bastard. Or was it one of the assholes he hangs out with?” I asked with growing heat in my voice.

 My friend, Kaylis, had warned me against Ranile more than once when I first started seeing him. She’d told me he was a mistake and not what he seemed almost right from the start. At least she was good enough to only say she’d told me so once after I figured out how Ranile viewed me and let the matter drop after that.

 I’d been flattered by Ranile’s pursuit of me. He was charming, handsome, owned a prosperous business and was considered quite the catch in our town. Initially I drank in all the attention Ranile poured over me. It took me going to bed with him three times to figure out that he had a sexual fetish for my condition. Me as a person wasn’t important to him at all. It hurt to realize that when I’d thought we had a meaningful connection and were becoming close. Him being with me was only about feeding his sexual fetish, using me as an object to satisfy his lust.

 I’d never felt so dirty and used in all my life as when I realized that.

 I’d refused to see him after that. He’d tried for weeks to get back into my bed using pretty words and gifts to try to win me over again. When it became obvious that wasn’t going to happen, he turned ugly and started spreading word of what I was to not only the people in our town but to neighbouring towns as well. Up until that point, very few people had known about my deformity since it was easy enough to hide.

 For months after Ranile’s campaign to spread word of what I was to anybody who’d listen I had the curious, and those like Ranile who were aroused by the oddity I was, drop by my farm hoping to see and experience what I most certainly wasn’t going to show to random strangers. I’d finally needed to get my property strongly warded to keep surprise visitors out.

 Which suddenly made me wonder how this person happened to be within the bounds of my property when I’d paid good money to have said property warded well.

 “Who has wronged you, Deagan?” the male asked his voice suddenly low and filled with a level of anger and power I didn’t understand. My skin actually prickled a little from the feeling of raw power sliding through the air. _Shit_. This was bad. “Tell me and it will not happen again. I will not allow it.”

 There was something in the voice, a very tightly leashed anger backed by utter certainty, that made me believe what he said was absolutely true. That scared me a little but also gave me a strange feeling of warmth and arousal. That was a wickedly strong charm spell to still be working when I was pretty sure I’d been charmed. That really worried me. If this person had access to that level of power there was a really good chance that it wouldn’t matter how hard I fought. He’d likely be able to subdue me with other magic. I’d rather be eaten by a lesser wyrm than suffer what I strongly suspected was going to happen in the very near future.

 “I can fight my own battles. I may be lacking in one area but that doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t stand up for myself. I’m not a warrior but I have been in a more than a few fights. I can hold my own for the most part in a fist fight. Besides which, what the hell do you care? Defending my honour isn’t going to make me suddenly wave you into my bed in gratitude. If that was your goal, you failed.”

 The leaves of the tree shook violently and between one blink and the next the voice suddenly had a form in front of me at the base of the tree. He looked pissed as hell but I was somehow sure it wasn’t me that he was pissed at. It took me a few seconds to realize who I was looking at and I gaped and stared, my mind reeling. If I’d been told this encounter was going to happen to me in the future, I’d have laughed like a lunatic for a solid ten minutes before asking what bad drugs the person was on to have such a wild vision.

 The Hidden One, Lord Hylocereus, Elder God of Mysteries, Oracle of the Gods, faced me. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that’s was who it was either. He was revered and worshiped by all the Jinn, myself included. Legend said that we Jinn, while not a direct creation of his, were the result of his role in bringing the universes into being. I’d seen countless paintings, drawings and statues of him. Hell, I’d even spent four months weaving a tapestry of him on commission for one of his temples.

 Seeing him in the flesh, I hadn’t done him justice at all although I’d certainly been highly praised for my work and I thought it was one of my best pieces ever.

 He was breathtakingly beautiful. Even for a god, he was exquisite and so much more than I’d thought he was. Jinn lore often spoke of him taking mortals to his bed although it was typically his Priests that he favoured. I completely understood why someone would be more than willing to spread their legs for him. I’d eagerly do it in a heartbeat and consider myself blessed to have been given the opportunity. There was an air of intense sexuality to him that no painting or statue I’d seen seemed able to capture. Artwork of him did have the sense of his sensuality but nothing even close to the reality of him.

 He was also a hell of a lot bigger than I’d assumed from the painting and statues I’d seen since he was always the lone figure in those artworks. From the top of his head to the tip of his tail he had to be an easy fifteen feet long, maybe more. It was a little hard to tell as his lower snake-half was coiled up under him. His body from the hips up was a gloriously sleek male one that was also nude.

 Just above his belly button was a large, flowering lotus design. The design extended up to almost the bottom of his rib cage. The tips of the petals and leaves had what looked like tiny pearls on them. In the center of the flower was a dark purple, faceted, jewel-like stone. It was a beautiful design and I wanted to touch it. It wasn’t a tattoo as far as I knew but something that just was.

 His skin was the colour of caramel and his scales glittered gold, bronze and black in the dappled sunlight under the tree. The tip of his tail ended in a wicked looking point, was glittery-black and looked as dangerous as I knew it to be. The same glittery-black colour tipped the long, sharp nails on his fingers.

 He had no hair on his head or anywhere on his body that I could see. Instead, there were large sparkling gold, bronze and black, swept-back spikes in place of hair on his head. He had small horns above his eyes and sharply pointed ears. He also had more of the large spiky scales at his shoulders. The scales on his snake half weren’t all smooth and looked more like spikes. They were also the same shimmering gold, bronze and black.

 His eyes were fascinating and almost hypnotic. They were a stunning pale blue with slit pupils. They seemed to sparkle and glitter much like his spikes and scales. I’d had no idea what his eye colour was as every image of him I’d ever seen showed him with his eyes closed, the tapestry I’d woven included. I could understand why when faced with his intense stare. It was mesmerizing.

 His eyes saw everything. It felt like he was seeing into me and reading my very soul. That probably should’ve made me feel very uncomfortable but it didn’t, which was odd. It was both entrancing and frightening to look into his eyes but I couldn’t seem to look away. I knew I should lower my gaze from his to show respect to my god but I just couldn’t seem to make myself do it. I wanted to stay lost in his eyes. It almost felt like a compulsion.

 It was also becoming a highly erotic experience for me, which was beyond strange from just staring into his eyes. Arousal grew and flowed through me from the intense stare we were exchanging and I felt my cheeks flush. I’d be a massive disappointment to him if by some miracle he asked me to his bed. My cheeks burned hotter in shame.

 “Who wronged you, Deagan? I will not tolerate this. Why do you call yourself a freak of nature and say you’re lacking? You are exactly as you were meant to be and lack nothing. You are perfectly you. I’m very pleased with what I see.”

 I finally managed to pull my eyes from his and dropped to my knees, my head bowed. It was a lot harder to pull my eyes from his than I thought it would be. I wanted to keep staring at him, basking in the sheer beauty and intense sensuality of him. I jumped a tiny bit when he tipped my face up with a gentle finger so I was looking at him again. Gods, he had gorgeous, entrancing eyes. I could stay lost in his gaze forever.

 “You never need to bow before me, Deagan. It’s lovely that you did and I appreciate the gesture but that is not your role between us. You are not subservient to me,” Lord Hylocereus said in a gentle tone. “I’d thought you beautiful when I saw you in a vision but the reality of you is so much better. This Ranile you mentioned, is he the one who wronged you? If not him, then who? Tell me and it will never happen again.”

 “None of them are worth your time or attention. It doesn’t matter. Why are you here, Lord Hylocereus? Why have you visited me?” I said as I stared at him. Something in me made me add in a voice barely above a whisper what I’d never voiced to another being, “I’m nothing important. I’m not even whole.”

 Gods, he was beautiful. A hard surge of lust swept through me followed almost immediately by despair. The perfection that was Lord Hylocereus would never want to join someone like me in bed. Everyone knew gods were quite free with their affections but him joining me would never be a thing. I’d gladly spread my legs for him but he wouldn’t want me once he saw my deformity. I’d never felt so disappointed and ashamed of myself even though it wasn’t my fault that I’d been born as I was.

 “Not whole? Well, I suppose that is technically correct and is the reason why I’m here. It’s not really as simple as that but on a very basic level it is true. I hadn’t thought you’d entirely understand the sense of incompleteness I’m sure you feel and know it was because you are not whole. I’d planned to slowly explain to you the reason for why you are as you are. It’s unexpectedly fortunate that you’ve realized at least part of this on your own. It saves us time and will make things so much easier. You can be made whole, Deagan, if you wish it.”

 My heart hammered in my chest and my mouth went dry. He could make me whole? The power of a god was truly staggering. I’d never even dared to pray to be made whole. I’d assumed that I was born the way I was because the gods wanted me to be this way for a reason. Perhaps they had and I’d needed to learn... something from having to live with my deformity. Whatever the case, if I was now to become a normal Jinn, there weren’t enough prayers of gratitude in the world that I could give.

 “Thank you, Lord Hylocereus. I never dreamed that it was possible for my deformity to be corrected. It is a gift beyond measure,” I said as I grasped his hand and pressed a kiss to his fingers.

 Lord Hylocereus frowned a little and lowered his body so I didn’t have to look up at him. He tilted his head slightly to the side as if studying me.

 “What is this deformity you speak of? You look perfect to me.”

 I flushed red. I’d assumed, as the patron god of the Jinn, he’d know what was wrong with me. Or maybe he didn’t view it a deformity but as a trial of some sort that I’d needed to overcome. I wanted to look away but couldn’t. For some reason I felt far more embarrassed to say what was wrong with me to him than to any of the handful of men that I’d shared a bed with.

 “I... I’m not like other Jinn. I....” I needed to clear my throat to continue. By the gods, this was hard to say when looking at the perfection of him. “I don’t look like a male Jinn below the waist.”

 “How so?” he asked gently. “Not that it matters to me but you seem bothered by whatever you believe is wrong. Your physical form is just a shell for your soul and it’s your soul that is who you are and what I’m interested in. I am pleased that your current body is so lovely but that is just a bonus as far as I’m concerned.”

 Was I actually going to have to say out loud what my deformity was? Damn. I drew in a steadying breath. I could do this. If admitting out loud my deformity and accepting that was required in order for me to be made whole, then I could do that. I would do that. They were only words. Hard words to say out loud to another who was utter perfection, but just words.

 “I only have one cock,” I said bluntly my voice low.

 I was surprised at how much shame I felt at saying that out loud to Lord Hylocereus. I’d thought I’d come to at least a sort of accepting resignation about what I lacked and how it made me less of a man than other Jinn. Maybe I hadn’t learned what I was supposed to if my deformity was indeed some sort of trial the gods wanted me to go through. Would the offer to be made whole be withdrawn since I apparently hadn’t truly accepted in my heart how the gods had made me?

 “And?” Lord Hylocereus asked with a little puzzlement.

 Now I frowned. “I wasn’t blessed with your gift to the Jinn. I’m deformed. A freak of nature. I’m not whole.”

 Lord Hylocereus shifted and sat back a little on his coils, studying me intently. I was surprised at the sharp stab of disappointment I felt at his subtle withdrawal. He sighed softly, the sound one of displeasure. I felt a sharp pain in my chest at that and dropped my gaze. I couldn’t look at him now. He now saw me for what I was and it was not what he thought. I squawked in very unmanly surprise when he wrapped a coil around my waist and pulled me into his arms.

 “I am so very seldom wrong that it’s always a surprise to me when it happens. I am a god of knowledge but that doesn’t mean I know everything, as contradictory as that sounds. I’m sorry, Deagan. I completely misunderstood your words and made assumptions based on incomplete information, excitement and my own desires. I will try to clarify for you what I meant although I think what I’m about to tell you might frighten and even overwhelm you. I’m truly sorry about that but you need to know in order to understand why I’m here now. Hold your questions until I’m done telling you what I must.”

 I nodded, now more confused than before. I certainly never expected to see Lord Hylocereus in the flesh and I most certainly never imagined that I’d be held gently in his arms. It worried and frightened me a little that a feeling of complete rightness settled through me at being held by him. It felt like... home. There was no other way to describe it. Being in his arms felt like I was finally in the place I was supposed to be.

 “When I agreed that you were not whole and that I was here to make you whole, I did not mean changing anything about you in a physical sense. I also want to be very clear that whether you have a hemipenis like me and most male Jinn, or one cock like the majority of other species, or no cock at all, matters not to me. You are more than your genitals, Deagan. What you have or don’t have between your legs is not what defines you. Or at least you shouldn’t let it define you.

 “You are not whole in the metaphysical sense. Neither am I. We are not whole because of what was necessary to do to bring the universes into being. All of us Elder Gods tore out a piece of our soul to power the creation of everything. None of us regret doing that and we’re very proud of what we’ve created. But the price was steep. Even if we’d known the price then, none of us would’ve wavered to do what we felt we must.”

 “That price was to forever feel the loss of the part of our soul given to creation. Eventually our soul healed from the wound we’d inflicted but it was never the same. Not only that, we would never be fully satisfied and at peace with a partner because of that missing part of ourselves. We could never give ourselves fully to a partner regardless of how much we loved them because we were no longer whole. However, should we find that remaining fragment of our soul, then we would be whole again. Then we could love fully and completely.”

 Lord Hylocereus’ eyes closed and his arms tightened a little around my shoulders while the coil around my waist did the same. I could feel the restrained physical power in him. He could likely snap me in two without even thinking about it but that didn’t worry or frighten me. It actually gave me a bit of a giddy rush and made my cock harden further. My body was behaving beyond inappropriately and reacting strangely but I couldn’t seem to help myself.

 “It was agreed before we started the task of bringing the universes into being that, once given, we could never claim back that piece of ourselves nor claim any ownership of what we’d created as a group. The tiny fragment of our soul left over was immeasurably changed through the creation process, becoming its own individual. It was of us but not us any longer. Never think that what I feel for you is simply because of what your soul used to be. You are your own person and I see you as such and not some sort of extension of myself.

 “Because of the change in the soul fragment, we can’t easily identify it among the countless souls that now fill the world. All Elder Gods feel compelled to find that that soul fragment because it is an ache that never quite goes away until we do find that soul fragment again. We need to wait for that soul to quite literally cross our path in order to recognize it. Even then, a god may miss the opportunity if he or she is not paying attention.

 “Additionally, we need to wait for that soul fragment to be ready to have the connection to the god it came from revealed. Just because the soul crosses the path of the god doesn’t mean it is ready to learn of its past. Very bad, even fatal things can happen to both a soul fragment and god if the soul isn’t ready to know of the past and the god forces the issue. This has already happened. None of us wish to make that terrible mistake now that we know it’s a possibility.”

 Lord Hylocereus shuddered a little and held me tighter. I liked being held by him on several levels. Now that I was so close to him I was willing to swear on my very life that I had a connection with him that seemed more than one of a god and his worshiper. It was probably just a mortal reaction to being so close to the divine but it felt amazing and I didn’t want this intense sensation of belonging to ever end.

 “We have eternity as gods which can make the wait achingly painful. Some gods have been fortunate and their wait for their soul fragment has been only a few thousands of years. Others have waited for tens of thousands of years. Many are still waiting. Some will be waiting for a very long time to come. I have seen this in visions so I know it to be true.

 “Your soul is that fragment of mine. My wait has been harsh in some ways as I knew I’d be able to finally tell you what you are through a vision I had a very long time ago. I’ve known for one hundred and thirty-five thousand years that now would be the first time you would be ready to know what you are.”

 I stared at Lord Hylocereus, my mind whirling at what he’d just told me. It was almost too much to take in at once. I wasn’t even sure that I completely understood what he was telling me. I couldn’t really grasp just how much time it was that he said he’d waited to meet me. It seemed like a ridiculously huge number but I had no reason not to believe him. The gods were eternal, especially the Elder Gods that had existed before, well, literally everything.

 I tried to sort out what Lord Hylocereus told me, putting it into simple points of organization in my brain. I wasn’t an idiot but that was one hell of a big chunk of life-changing information to try to digest. Especially when it dropped so much new information into my lap about what I knew and didn’t know about the world, the gods and mortals.

 He waited silently for me to think, his hands lightly rubbing over the exposed skin of my arm. His coil shifted back and forth over the skin exposed where my shirt had ridden up when he’d captured me in his coils. That felt really nice but was erotically distracting at the same time. When I thought I had the basic concept of what he’d told me straightened out in my head, I spoke.

 “So you’re not going to do anything to me physically so that I’ll look like a normal male Jinn because that’s not what you meant when you said you’d make me whole. My soul is what was left over from the piece you donated to power the creation of the universes. You’ve missed that piece of yourself since that day, not regretting what you did but wanting that piece back so you could be whole, too. You’ve been waiting a truly mindboggling amount of time to be able to approach me because of a vision you had of meeting me right now because I’d be ready in some way to learn what you’ve just told me without... I don’t know, losing my mind or something from finding out that my soul is what’s left of a piece of a god’s soul that was used to power the creation of the universes?”

 “Yes,” he said simply.

 “So what now? Do you take my soul and, I don’t know, meld it back into yourself or something? Is that why you say you don’t care about my deformity? Because it’s not going to matter shortly when you take my soul?”

 That scared me a little but at the same time I was okay with that which didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Obviously if my soul was no longer in my body that body would die. I was still young and had a fairly long life ahead of me so I should’ve felt something other than peaceful acceptance at hearing my soul was going to go back to Lord Hylocereus. Or maybe it was because my soul was a piece of his that I didn’t feel panic over my possible impending death.

 “No, Deagan. Your soul remains yours. Now that I’ve told you all of this, if you’re willing, I get to love you openly. If fortune shines on me, you’ll love me back. I don’t expect that instantly. That would be foolish and incredibly egotistical of me. I strive to do neither. We can literally have eternity together. You would be my husband as I would be yours. I would give you my god-mark and as long as I existed, so would you without aging or getting sick. You would be immortal for all intents and purposes. There’s much more to it than that but I’m massively getting ahead of myself.

 “It will take time to grow that love between us. Or, more accurately, it will take you time to feel that way about me. That may not even happen in this lifetime for you, which will be hard for me to bear, but is what must be. I will never force you to accept me or my presence around you. That is not how this precious gift between us works.

 “Because of what I am, I have seen you through countless lives. I’ve been able to interact with you during some of those lives although it was a beautiful torture to me in doing so because I needed to wait for the right time to reveal all to you. Your physical shell changes but the soul remains the same and it is your soul that I have come to love over thousands upon tens of thousands of years. Other Elder Gods don’t have this luxurious curse because they’re not the Oracle of the Gods. That is my painful burden alone.

 “They have no idea who or where their soul fragment is, which is actually a blessing even though I’m sure they don’t see it that way. Because of the visions I have, I’ve known of you since almost the very moment your soul joined the Great Wheel and you became your own person. It’s been joyful to watch you grow and develop into the person you are. It’s been utterly crushing to watch you die thousands of times knowing I can do nothing to stop that because it is what must be for your soul to continue to grow and move on to the next life all to be ready for this moment when I can finally reveal what we are to each other.”

 Okay, wow. I didn’t know how I was supposed to react or what I was supposed to say. As the primary god worshipped by the majority of the Jinn, myself included although I was more than a little lax in my worship, I loved him as my god. But that wasn’t the type of love he was talking about between us. That much I was absolutely sure of.

 I felt so completely out of my depth. I’d never dared to dream of having a husband because of my deformity and the way any male I’d ever been with viewed me. The idea that I could have a husband who loved me because I was me and not because of a sexual fetish I represented was thrilling. That said husband was a god was beyond anything I’d thought possible for any mortal.

 “Okay. Again, now what? Where do we go from here? I have no idea what to say or do or even think about what you’ve just told me. Hell, I didn’t even know it was possible for a god to marry a mortal. Dally with one, for sure. There are stories all over the place about gods spending some time between the sheets with mortals. I know you take some of your Priests to your bed. Deeper relationships than something purely sexual? I had no idea.”

 Lord Hylocereus stroked my cheek gently. “I’ve handled this a little poorly and not at all in the way I wanted to but in my defence, I hadn’t realized there would be the misunderstanding about not being whole. You may lay any blame there upon my shoulders for getting ahead of myself. As for where we go from here, if the decision was entirely mine to make, which it is not, I would strip you bare and make love with you until neither of us could move.

 “I know it would be best to allow you to slowly get to know me as more than a god you worship. I should give you all the time you need to know me as an individual before becoming physically intimate with you. But I’ve known your soul for literally thousands upon tens of thousands of years. I’ve been intimate with you over multiple lives. I can’t help the desire and need I feel to join my body with yours because we’ve been together many, many times before.”

 My cock twitched in hearty agreement of joining with Lord Hylocereus. Having cocks stuffed in my ass was one of the best pleasures possible in my opinion. I did enjoy getting my cock into a lover’s ass sometimes but the level of satisfaction for me in doing that wasn’t as much as having a having a lover fuck me. I just really liked being fucked.

 “You’re incredibly attractive to me and I would be very much in favour of taking your cocks in my ass,” I said with a little smile. “I understand what you’re saying about letting me get to know you first to start the type of relationship you say we can have. That makes perfect sense. I’m still more than absolutely fine with having sex first and seeing what develops from there. But would you be okay with what I lack?”

 Lord Hylocereus sighed softly.

 “Deagan, love, you’re far too focused on what you think you lack. You’re not missing anything physically as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know how much you know of other species since Jinn tend to only associate with other Jinn, but generally speaking, a hemipenis is not the usual situation for mortals. Aside from wyrms, Naga and the Jinn, all others generally have just the one cock and never consider themselves lacking. I’ve had many more lovers with a single cock than lovers with more than one. As long as we please each other, then that’s all that matters between us. I should be the one concerned about whether or not you’d be fine with becoming intimate with me.”

 I looked at him like he was a bit crazy. “Why wouldn’t I be fine being intimate with you? Aside from being a god, my god, you’re incredibly beautiful, sensual and extremely erotic.”

 The smile he gave me was breath-stealing and cock-stirring at the same time. His coils squeezed me gently, sliding sensuously against my skin. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d be aroused by the feel of serpent’s coils gently squeezing and holding me. Then again, it never crossed my mind that I’d be in the position of being held by Lord Hylocereus.

 “Despite my being a god, some mortals cannot deal with the fact that I have the lower body of a snake. Desire dies for them when they realize that I don’t transform into a fully man form. I can if I want to but that feels slightly dishonest to me since this is my natural form. I don’t believe it does anyone any good to present oneself as something they are not. Mortal or god, one should always be true to oneself. Despite you being Jinn, you could still be disturbed by the reality of being intimately embraced by my coils. There are Jinn that have changed their mind about sex with me when they realized there wouldn’t be an alternate form of me.

 “Not only that, I’ve had quite a number of partners, men and women, change their mind when they see that I have two cocks. I’ve been told it’s intimidating by many mortals even if I didn’t intend to get both cocks into them at the same time, which I rarely do. I don’t believe that aspect will be something that would make you back away given that you’re Jinn but one never knows how someone will react until they’re in a specific situation.”

 It was boggling to me that someone would change their mind about sex with Lord Hylocereus if given the chance. He was stunning. So what if his lower half was serpentine? That didn’t matter in my opinion. He wasn’t an unthinking beast. He was also a god. Who in their right mind would pass on the chance to join their god in bed? The tales of the pleasure that could be found in the bed of a god, any god, were legendary.

 “Neither your coils nor hemipenis are going to be any kind of problem for me as far as being intimate goes. Never in my wildest imaginings did I ever even dream that you’d come to me and not only want to have sex with me but that you wanted me as your husband and have wanted that for literally thousands of years. That’s a lot to try to wrap your head around. Honestly, I think I might be a little in shock.”

 Lord Hylocereus sighed softly again. “I truly intended to slowly get you used to the idea of just what you are and that I’d like to be intimately involved in your life and bed. I’m usually patient and my plan initially involved a lot of patience on my part. But seeing you, talking to you, threw those patient plans right out the window. That’s not your fault but mine. I’m far too eager for you to know me as I feel I know you.

 “We don’t have to have sex right now, Deagan. I’ve waited a very long time for you to be ready to know what we are to each other. I understand that it’s a lot of information to take in and you need time to sort it all out in your head. I will continue to wait until you’re ready, however long that takes. You asked me where we go from here and I told you what I’d like. Just because I’d dearly love to sink into you doesn’t mean that it’s a foregone conclusion. Yes, I’m a god but I’m not going to impose my will on you and demand you satisfy me because of my godhood. That’s not how a loving relationship works and that’s what I hope we’ll have between us no matter how long it takes for that to happen.”

 I stared at Lord Hylocereus and wondered if maybe I was dreaming this entire encounter up and that none of it was real. What he wanted with me was something I’d wanted with a partner with all my heart but was positive would never be mine because of my deformity. It was my secret desire that I’d never told another soul about, locking it deep within my heart. Frankly, I’d given up hope that I could have normal sexual relationship with anyone because of my deformity and how other Jinn viewed me.

 I’d once had what I thought was the possibility of a loving relationship dangled in front of me only to find out my view of the relationship hadn’t been anywhere close to what the other person thought of our relationship. That had been a devastating blow on multiple levels. I refused to do the same to Lord Hylocereus. That had nothing to do with him being a god and everything to do with me trying to be just a decent person. I refused to toy with another’s emotions be they god or mortal.

 “I didn’t say I don’t want to have sex with you right now because I really would like that to happen. I find you beautiful and erotic. I just want you to be clear that I don’t feel the same way you do right now. I’m not trying to use your feelings to get something from you or just using you to satisfy my desires or even giving myself bragging rights for sharing the bed of a god. That sounds crass and egotistical when I say it out loud like that. It sounded way better in my head.”

 Lord Hylocereus laughed and opened his eyes to slits, the pale blue barely visible but still stunning and hypnotic.

 “You are delightful, Deagan. I know you’re not saying yes to sex with me to curry any sort of favour. That is not the type of person you are. You’re saying yes because you truly do want to have sex with me. I also understand very well that to expect your feelings to be the same as mine would be ridiculous at this point. You know me only as a god you pray to on occasion, nothing more. I’ve known your soul, intimately at times, over the course of tens of thousands of years. You are very much worth waiting for, however long that takes. I have eternity although I really hope that it doesn’t take that long.”

 I chuckled at that. He said it with a little humour but I also knew he was utterly serious about letting me set the pace for our interaction. To me, that was a huge indication of how serious he was about having a relationship with me when he was a god and could literally do whatever he wanted to me and there was nothing I could do to stop him. It was still boggling to me that he wanted to have a relationship with me.

 “Will you allow me to be part of your life, Deagan? Will you give us the chance to be something truly great together? You will not offend me by saying no. I will be incredibly disappointed but if I need to wait longer for you, then I will. In my vision I only saw that this moment was finally right to tell you what we are and can be to each other. It didn’t show me the outcome of the revelation.”

 I was silent as I thought. Hylocereus was silent as well and seemed like he’d wait as long as I felt it would take to give him an answer. My dick and ass were all for jumping at what Hylocereus wanted to offer me. My mind was shocked and maybe a touch disbelieving and insisted that I needed to step back and carefully think everything over. My heart was almost dancing a jig at having its most secret desire handed to it.

 Two against one and majority ruled.

 “I’d definitely like to sample your cocks. I’m up for doing that multiple times actually. Whether or not that leads to us having a relationship about more than just sex, well, I think that’ll be something that happens one step at a time. I can’t guarantee anything as far as my feelings go but if you can live with that, then yes, you can certainly be part of my life.”

 The smile Hylocereus gave me was one of the most beautiful and hottest things I’d ever seen.

 “Wonderful. I must admit that I’m quite eager for us to be intimate. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had the opportunity for that pleasure. Where would you like to be for this encounter? I’m perfectly willing to stay right where we are but I’m not sure you’d be comfortable with so open a place. I can stop anything from coming within sight of us if you wish. That is a nothing drop of power to me and beyond easy to do.”

 “I’m not really into the idea of getting grass, sand and dirt in intimate places so I’d prefer to move to a place where that wouldn’t be a thing. I’d suggest my bed but I don’t think all of you and me would fit on it. And not to be an asshole but I don’t think it could take our combined weight either. How much do you weigh and just how big are you?”

 “Around three hundred and fifty pounds give or take a few pounds. Last time I checked I was about fifteen feet from the top of my head to the tip of my tail but that was several decades ago and my snake half may have grown a few inches more since then.”

 “Yeah, my bed is definitely out. If you don’t mind the floor, we could do that. My living room is large enough. I can throw some soft rugs and cushions down and we’ll be good to go. Unless you wanted to take me somewhere more comfortable for you. Whatever you want is fine by me.”

 One moment we were under the tree and the next we were in my house. There’d been no sensation of movement at all. I hoped I didn’t look as dumbfounded as I felt. Lord Hylocereus lifted me from his lap with his coil and stood me on my feet. He rose so his head was even with mine and looked around curiously.

 I immediately regretted not washing the breakfast dishes and wished I’d folded my laundry like I’d meant to before rushing out to see if I could track down what had been scaring my larinvacs yet again. At least I hadn’t left rovings all over the room this time. Kaylis said it looked like a pack of wild dogs with bad mange had run through my house when she’d once come over unannounced while I was sorting larinvac fur to get it ready for spinning.

 “Did you make this?” he asked as he undulated to a tapestry on the wall.

 “Yes. It was my final project in order to graduate from apprentice and be granted the title of weaver in the guild. I’m pleased at how it turned out but now that I have more experience under my belt, I can see places that could be improved. It makes my fingers itch sometimes to not pick apart those areas and fix them but I resist because it is what I was capable of at the time and it is still a well-crafted piece.”

 “It’s beautiful. And vaguely familiar for some reason. Not the subject of the scene. It’s more the style and how the colours and textures are blended together and complement one another. I’ve seen something like this before and rather recently.”

 He stared at the tapestry, his eyes opened wide. His tail tip slowly flicked up and down. I said nothing and wondered if he’d notice me edging away to stuff the clean laundry behind my couch and out of sight so I didn’t look like a slobby housekeeper. He suddenly whirled, moving faster than I’d have believed possible for someone his size. He pinned me in place with his gaze, a look of surprise and pleasure on his face.

 “You made the newest tapestry hanging in my temple in Coaxoch.” He said it as a statement and not a question.

 I was a little shocked and a lot pleased that he not only noticed the tapestry but that he was able to identify it as one of my pieces. I nodded and he smiled smugly.

 “Excellent. Since it’s in my temple and is by rights mine, it saves me from having to buy it from someone who likely wouldn’t want to sell such a magnificent work. It’ll look wonderful hanging in my library.”

 “You’re going to take the tapestry from the temple?” I asked a bit taken aback that he’d do that.

 “It’s my temple. Everything in it is mine to do with as I please and it pleases me to have that tapestry in my home.” There was a note of finality to his words along with a dash of godly command.

 I opened my mouth to say the tapestry had been made specifically for the temple in Coaxoch before abruptly shutting my mouth without saying a thing. He was right in that the temple was dedicated to him and everything within it was his. I’d been paid well for my work and had absolutely zero say in what was done with the tapestry once I’d delivered it. It did give me a warm burst of pride to know that he liked it so much that he wanted to have it in his actual home.

 “I’ll grab some rugs, blankets and pillows for us. I think there’s enough space here to not crowd you if I push the table out of the way. We could also go to wherever you’d be more comfortable. It honestly doesn’t matter to me.”

 Lord Hylocereus looked at me and I fell into the beauty of his eyes again. I could see banked heat and lust in them and it made my body respond in a very immediate and base way. He closed his eyes to mere slits and I was surprised at the feeling of disappointment that gave me. I wanted to continue staring into his eyes. It felt like all the answers to all the questions in the universes could be found in his gaze.

 I was beginning to think that Lord Hylocereus had very, very dangerous eyes. He had the type of eyes that could get you to do anything he wanted you to do and you’d do it gladly. One might even beg him to be allowed to do what he wanted just because of the utterly mesmerizing intensity of his eyes. I couldn’t recall anything in his dogma that mentioned his eyes and how enthralling they were and wondered why. Or perhaps I was more lax in my worship than I’d realized.

 “Here is fine. Matter of fact, I’d prefer our encounter to happen here. That way, whenever you walked into this room later on you’d remember the pleasure of us joining together,” he said with a slow sensual smile.

 I swallowed hard. Damn. Now that he’d said that, I knew it was exactly what I would think of every time I walked into my living room. I jumped a little when a pile of thick, rich furs and plump pillows that weren’t mine appeared in the middle of my living room floor, creating a large nest of sorts. Lord Hylocereus shrugged his shoulders when I looked at him, a question plain on my face.

 “I want to see you naked on plush fur and I like the way it feels against me. If you object, I can remove the furs and pillows and you can provide whatever you’d like for us.”

 “No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting furs and pillows to suddenly appear. I haven’t seen a lot of higher level magic like teleportation being used for mundane things, Lord Hylocereus. It’ll take me a bit to get used to it. Assuming I’ll need to get used to it?”

 “You don’t need to use my title, Deagan. Hylocereus is fine because it’s you. That was not magic. That was godly power. Not more than a bare drop of it but still godly in nature. There is quite a difference between the power of a god and the magic that mortals use. And yes, unless you tell me any different with regards to being in your life, you’ll be seeing more godly power on a regular basis.”

 “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend, Lo... Hylocereus.” I corrected myself at his intense stare.

 “You didn’t offend. Eventually you’ll be able to tell the difference between godly power and mortal magic. Join me?” he asked as he moved to the furs and settled himself in the middle of them, his hand extended to me.

 I moved to the edge of the nest of furs and stopped. Nerves attacked me out of nowhere and I suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. I’d already told him I wasn’t like other male Jinn and he said he didn’t care but would he still feel that way when he actually saw me naked? It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had a potential lover get up and walk out once they saw what I was missing.

 “It’s okay for you to change your mind, Deagan,” he said softly when he noticed my hesitation. “I can content myself with just holding you if that’s all you want or are ready for. Or we can simply talk and get to know one another better if you’d prefer. I’d still like to hold you if you’re comfortable with that while we talk but that is your choice and I will not force you into any contact you don’t want or aren’t ready for. I was perfectly serious when I said that I’d wait for as long as you needed before we became physically intimate.”

 I blew out a breath, my nerves settling a bit at his words. “I haven’t changed my mind. I want to have sex with you. Very much so. I’m not confident about the way my cock looks but I am confident that I can bring you pleasure. I’m rather good at cock sucking if I do say so myself and I’ve been told that my ass is a fine ride so I’m not worried about that aspect of being intimate with you. Honestly, I’m really nervous about your reaction to seeing me naked. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

 “Deagan, love, I’ve seen you in countless lives through my visions of you and I’ve interacted with you intimately in some of your lifetimes. You’ve been many species, both male and female and I’ve loved you in all of them. I realize that revealing yourself to me is something difficult for you based on your intimate experiences in this life. That’s why I said it’s your choice of how far we go and how fast we get there.

 “This is your current shell. I think it’s lovely, what I’ve seen of it, but it’s not what defines my feelings for you and never will be. Remain dressed if you’re more comfortable that way. We do what you’re comfortable with. My wants mean nothing in this instance. You can always trust me and I’ll never turn from you. You have my word as a god on that,” he said as he opened his eyes fully and stared at me.

 I believed him. I was willing to swear on my very soul that he was showing me the truth of his words reflected in his eyes. He waited on the furs, watching me intently. He was utterly still and silent. I somehow knew he’d stay that way until I decided on whatever course of action I was going to take. What he’d do then would depend entirely on what I chose to do. I knew that like I knew my own name. It was a rather heady thing to hold such power especially with a god.

 My hands were undoing the buttons of my shirt before I realized what I was doing. I was still nervous as hell about him seeing my cock but oddly calm at the same time. Hylocereus’ stare became even more intense but didn’t make me feel more self-conscious for some reason. It actually sent a giddy rush of arousal through me. I smiled a little when I noticed the tip of his tail flicking up and down ever so slightly. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one anxious. Strangely, that helped calm my nerves even more.

 I shrugged out of my shirt, letting it flutter to the floor behind me. I undid the buttons of my pants and drew in a slow breath before pushing them down and stepping out of them. I stood before Hylocereus, naked and hard with my gaze at the floor, and waited for his reaction. I was committed to sex with him and was looking forward to that but I just couldn’t look at him when he saw me naked for the first time. Despite what he said, and I didn’t doubt for a second his sincerity, I still felt like I was lacking and would disappoint him because I was always literally lacking in the cock department when compared to other Jinn.

 “You are stunning and perfect,” he said in a low reverent tone filled with want and need. “I’m not dismissing your worries about what’s between your legs because I know how you came to have those doubts. I know it’ll take time for you to see yourself differently and that’s fine. I’ll help you see that what others have said is simply not true. You’re not lacking in anyway nor are you deformed. You’re beautiful as you are.

 “My sexual experiences are very broad so believe me when I say you have absolutely nothing to worry about with regards to your cock. You say you’ve not been blessed with my gift to the Jinn but what you have would certainly satisfy any lover, male or female. I have zero doubts that I will find great pleasure with you.”

 I did look up then. Hylocereus was staring at my cock with naked lust and a thrilling hunger in his eyes. Motion out of the corner of my eye had me turn my head a little to see his tail tip quivering. My knowledge of his physical reactions was as close to nothing as one could get but I was somehow dead sure that movement meant he was excited by what he saw. A little more of my nervousness eased.

 “May I touch you?” he asked his voice husky. “I know you’re sensitive about your cock and how you perceive it. From my point of view, which is very, very arousing, it and you are perfect. Trust me when I say many males would be quite envious to have a cock like yours. I will never lie to you, Deagan, so believe me when I say to you that I’m quite partial to cocks with a substantial girth, which you most certainly have. On the occasions that I take a lover into me, I greatly enjoy feeling stretched wide by a lover.”

 My eyes went wide at Hylocereus’ words. He enjoyed taking cock? He’d let that happen? But... he was a god. Fine, I deeply enjoyed taking cock because it felt so very good but still. I was mortal. It never even occurred to me that a male god would want to be fucked never mind allow it. My cock throbbed at the idea of sliding into Hylocereus and pumping my seed into him. Not that I thought that would actually happen but it was a very arousing idea.

 “I won’t touch your cock if you don’t feel comfortable with that,” he said in a low voice when I remained silent. “I’ll be disappointed naturally, but your comfort means more to me than my desire to get my hands and mouth on that wonderful looking dick of yours to bring you to orgasm. I’m sure you’ll eventually allow me the pleasure of jerking and sucking you off. I am very patient. I will wait until you’re ready for that.”

 I was surprised at his words. All other males that I’d been with, which, granted, wasn’t a huge number, had been very demanding about immediately touching my cock and playing with it. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but when I realized that they were more into the fetish of playing with my single cock to satisfy their sexual needs than doing it to give me pleasure, it took a lot of the desire out of the encounter for me and made me feel like an object to be used instead of a person and the other half of a sexual encounter.

 I was going to have to rearrange a lot of my thinking when it came to sex with Hylocereus if what was happening now was any indication of future behaviour, which it probably was. One thing was for sure though; I didn’t feel any hesitation at him touching me anywhere. Matter of fact I wanted his hands on me wherever I could get them. I’d really liked it when he’d held me in his lap and stroked my skin. I also really liked the feel of his coils wrapped around me. They made me feel... secure and wanted for more than the oddity of what was between my legs.

 “You don’t need to wait. I’m... I’m fine with you touching me if you truly want to. You really think I have a nice cock? It’s not long and elegant like Jinn cocks. I’m not fishing for compliments or hoping for an ego boost. I really want your honest thoughts on this,” I said with a vague wave of my hand at my cock.

 From the few men that I’d slept with I knew that the thickness of my cock and the length of it was something else unusual about me. Jinn cocks were long and slim. Mine was not. Mine was easily thicker around than a typical Jinn’s cocks held together. Jinn cocks were usually about ten inches long. I had about seven inches. Compared to typical Jinn, my cock was short and fat and completely missed the mark on what was considered aesthetically pleasing even beyond the fact that I only had one instead of two.

 “You have a very nice cock, love. That’s not the only thing I find attractive about you either. You as a whole are incredibly desirable and erotic. If you feel uncomfortable for any reason, tell me and I’ll stop or slow down. I will not have you doing things just to please me at the expense of your comfort or pleasure.”

 My cheeks warmed at the compliment. I moved to the furs when Hylocereus took my hand and tugged me toward him. I knelt next to him and hesitantly brought my hands to his shoulders. He made a sound of approval in his throat and leaned in to kiss me. The kiss was gentle and undemanding. His hands smoothed over my shoulders and he caressed my chest as he slowly deepened the kiss, his long nails lightly teasing and scratching my nipples.

 I mirrored what he was doing, rubbing his nipples into hard points and pinching them gently. He made a wordless sound of encouragement in his throat and coaxed me into opening my mouth to him. A shiver slid down my spine when his tongue dipped into my mouth. I was a tiny bit surprised to find that his tongue wasn’t forked like a snake’s.

 He kissed me like he couldn’t get enough of doing it. It was unhurried but I could also feel the restraint he was using to keep his desire in check. That was thrilling as hell. His hands roamed over my body but he didn’t touch my cock. I relaxed a little more at his unhurried exploration of my body. I’d never had a lover not immediately grab my cock and fondle it, focusing all their attention on just that part of me as if the rest of me didn’t matter.

 After several minutes of feeling his hands wander over my body but not touch what he’d asked to touch it slowly started to feel like he was teasing me with the possibility of touching my cock but not doing it. Frustration at not getting the touch I wanted and expected started to wind through me. I finally grabbed his wrist and dragged his hand down my body, pressing his hand to my firm cock. I’d never done that before with a lover and it was both empowering and a bit scary at the same time. His fingers curled around my dick and gave me a light squeeze that felt fantastic. I groaned into his mouth.

  _Fuck, yes_.

 He moved his hand slowly, stroking me like he had all the time in the world as he continued to kiss me senseless. His tongue dipped in and out of my mouth, mimicking the act we’d soon be sharing. Something a little rough slid over my ass before settling between my ass cheeks and rubbing up and down. It was long, thick and firm and a tiny bit on the cool side. It took me a moment to realize that it was the end of his tail, which sent a jolt of lust through me.

 For some reason I hadn’t thought he’d do something like that. He’d said some previous lovers hadn’t been able to deal with his snake half during sex but I hadn’t made the mental connection about him using his snake half to stimulate a partner during sex. It was damn kinky, arousing and I liked it. I pressed my ass back against his tail before pushing my hips forward, shoving my cock into the tunnel of his fist.

 “You like my tail pressed against your ass?” he asked when he drew back from the kiss. “It doesn’t bother you to feel it pressed against you?”

 “No, it doesn’t bother me at all,” I said as I continued to move my hips, fucking myself against him. “Matter of fact, it feels damn good and surprisingly erotic.”

 His tail pressed more firmly between my ass cheeks and he looked both surprised and pleased by my words.

 “What do you prefer? To penetrate or be penetrated? Or is it mood dependant?” he asked as he stared deeply into my eyes. “I will give you whatever it is you desire if it’s within my power.”

 “I love cocks in my ass,” I said as I stared back.

 I couldn’t look away from his gaze and it seemed to demand the absolute truth from me. Not that I would’ve lied about what I liked in bed. That was just stupid in my opinion. I loved being fucked and felt no shame in that.

 “Wonderful. I know I’m going to love putting mine in your ass. That’s not the only thing we can or will enjoy with each other though. I really do enjoy taking a lover’s cock, too, although not nearly as often as getting mine into a lover. Any time you’d like to slide this beautiful dick into me, say so and it’ll happen,” Hylocereus said as he gave my cock a firm squeeze.

 I groaned softly with pleasure. “I can do that for you any time you want. I prefer to have my ass stuffed most of the time but I do sometimes want to slide my cock into a nice tight ass.”

 Hylocereus smiled and hummed his approval of that. “Good because I much prefer to be the one doing the stuffing. We are going to get along very, very well. If you’re game, at some point I’d like to slip my tail into you. Preferably when you push your cock into me. That’s something I enjoy quite a bit. But only if that’s something you’d like to try and not something you do just to please me. Now is not the time for some tail play though. I’m very aroused right now and I don’t want to accidentally hurt you by being too rough in my excitement. It’s going to be enough of a challenge for me to control myself with just my cock inside you.”

 My cock actually throbbed at the erotic mental image Hylocereus suggested. I wanted to be penetrated almost all of the time. I loved the way it felt to have my ass stretched wide and filled. It was incredibly erotic to me to be connected to another male by his cock deep in my ass. I loved the way my prostate would be stimulated as I was fucked, deepening my pleasure. I adored feeling a man’s cock pulse in my ass, his come filling me. Being able to fuck someone and have my ass stuffed at the same time seemed like a very kinky, erotic dream to me. I only had one issue with Hylocereus putting his tail up my ass.

 “Is it even safe to do that? Put your tail inside someone? I’ve heard the stories of your venom and what it can do. You can effortlessly kill a mortal with the barest scratch of your tail tip.”

 Hylocereus chuckled and suddenly the tip of his tail was teasing my hole. I froze in fear even as a chaser of arousal rushed through me. I didn’t think for a moment he’d do anything to hurt me. He’d told me I was safe with him and I utterly believed him. But I’d also read and heard the accounts of what his sting did to those he’d used it on. It wasn’t pretty and was always fatal. Legend had it that he could even kill a god with the power of his venom.

 So why was I starting to feel even more arousal as he continued to tease my hole with the tip of his very, very deadly tail? There had to be something seriously wrong with me to be aroused from being intimately touched with something that could end my life in less time than it would take for me to draw a breath.

 “I control when and how much I envenomate someone. I can manipulate my venom to be and do many things. Some of those things can be very erotic but I would only do that after fully discussing what to expect with my partner. My partner must trust me absolutely as their life is very much in my hands should we decide to play that way. Generally, it’s only something I’ll do with one of my high priests on the most holy of days if I feel the need to reward my priest on a grand scale. Even then, I’ve only done that with a mortal a bare handful of times.”

 “Erotic how?” I found myself asking. My cock twitched with desire every time his tail tip stroked over my hole, my body’s desire-heavy reaction to his deadly tail tip confusing me.

 “It can be a very, very strong aphrodisiac and the effects last for hours even at very small doses. I have to be extremely careful how much I dose a mortal or it will be fatal and nothing will save the mortal at that point. A mortal can literally die from the pleasure overload to their system. It can be an extremely erotic experience for my lover when used in games of domination and submission.”

 I doubted I’d ever need aphrodisiacs where Hylocereus was concerned. I found him massively erotic just as he was. I was intensely curious as to what sort of games he was talking about but a bit too shy to ask at the moment.

 “I’ll stop teasing you with my tail tip if you’re not comfortable with it, Deagan. You need to tell me if I do something that makes you uncomfortable or hurts. Don’t worry about offending me by telling me to stop doing something. I’d be upset to know that I did something that you weren’t comfortable with or that was hurting you. Communication is key to building a good relationship whether that’s in the bedroom or not.”

 “I understand what you said about choosing when to envenomate and I believe you. I still feel nervous about your potential sting though. A little aroused, too, which is confusing,” I admitted.

 “I’m glad to hear that the idea of my dosing you arouses you but I’m rushing you again,” he said with a regretful sigh. “I’m sorry, love. I honestly don’t mean to do that. I’ve watched you for so long and feel like I know you so very intimately because of all the time that’s passed for me as I’ve watched you through countless lives and even interacted with you in some of them. But in this life, you don’t know me beyond what any of my worshipers would know. That is not how you need to know me or how I want you to know me. You need to know me as the individual I am, not the me that is a god.”

 Hylocereus shifted, the tip of his tail moving away from my ass. The girth of the end his tail once more slide between my ass cheeks, pressing firmly against me. It felt like having a huge cock rub back and forth over my hole, which was intensely arousing and I was more than fine with that. My hole actually clenched and released in pleasure at the thought that I’d soon be enjoying one of his cocks in my ass. It had been a while since I’d had someone share my bed. Toys were a good substitute and I did enjoy the ones I had but nothing could really compare to the feel of a real cock working my hole.

 “Better?” he asked as he watched me through slitted eyes. His hand hadn’t left my cock as we spoke although he had stilled the motion. He began stroking me again in a way that made my heart and breathing speed up as well as making desire settle heavily in my balls. I really liked the way his hand felt on my cock.

 “Yes. That feels incredibly good and wickedly arousing. Fair warning, I’m probably not going to last very long especially when you’re jerking me off so fantastically. It’s been a while since I’ve shared my bed with anyone,” I said as my hips instinctively rocked back and forth. “I might... I might come before you even enter me if you keep jerking me off like you are.”

 “I’d love to watch you find pleasure and feel your cock throb in my hand as you come. Don’t hold back on my account.”

 I rocked against his tail, enjoying the way the slight roughness of his scales felt against my skin. I also really liked the way he’d changed the rhythm of his hand on my dick to match the speed of my hips. Gods, it felt good to have him jerk me off while his tail pressed and rubbed against my hole. His eyes glittered and burned with lust as he watched me lose myself in my rising desire. It was incredibly exciting to watch the desire grow in his eyes as he watched me hump myself against his tail and fuck into the tunnel of his fist.

 “What about you?” I panted as my arousal grew and the need to come settled heavily in my groin. I was already so close and he’d barely stroked me off for more than five minutes.

 “I’m trying to have some restraint. If I let my cocks appear and you look so very erotic while I’m touching you, I’m not sure how much control I’ll have. I want to be inside you when I come. I need to be inside you when I come.” he said his voice intense.

 Hearing him say that sent a bolt of pure lust straight to my balls. I groaned as my balls drew up and I came. Hylocereus hissed softly as his tail pressed firmly between my cheeks, his hand a tight tunnel around my cock. I moaned as I watched my seed shoot across his belly, making the design on his abdomen shimmer and the embedded jewel-like thing sparkle. Gods, that was wickedly erotic.

 After the last spurt left my dick, I started to slump forward, my muscles turned to limp rags, only to have him loop his tail lightly around my waist and chest, keeping me upright. The feeling of being held tightly but gently at the same time was strangely comforting and arousing and sent lazy heat through me even though I’d literally just emptied my balls in a very satisfying way.

 My eyes went wide as a slit appeared in his snake half several inches down from where his snake body started. His cocks pushed out and I shivered a bit in anticipation at the thought of taking him into my body. His cocks were reddish-gold in colour and made my heart pound in excitement to see them. I didn’t just want them in my ass; I wanted to take them into my mouth, too. I couldn’t have both at the same time and ass always won over mouth when deciding on my largest pleasure to be had from cock.

 He scooped some of my come from his belly and smeared it over his erect dicks, a low groan of pleasure coming from him. Seeing him stroke his cocks with my seed was unexpectedly erotic. I’d never had a lover do that before. I watched as he pushed two of his fingers into the slit his cocks had emerged from, twisting and pumping his fingers briefly. He hissed deeply and said something in a language I didn’t understand making me look up at him. He fully opened his eyes to stare at me and I couldn’t look away from the beauty of his gaze.

 “I want to seat you on my cocks. I want to fill you completely not only with my cocks but with my seed as well. I think taking both my cocks at once is going to take a little practice on your part though, if you even want to attempt that. I want to be perfectly clear in that you don’t have to, love. I know taking both my cocks at once is a lot and I’d never expect or demand it of you.”

 I somehow pulled my gaze from his and really looked at his cocks. The muscles in my ass quivered in lustful pleasure at seeing him erect. He was very right in that taking both of them at once would be something I’d need to work up to. As befitting a god, they were magnificent and bigger than any Jinn cocks I’d had together. I felt nervous and excited at the same time when I thought about taking both his cocks at once.

 I’d never failed to take both Jinn cocks at the same time of any of the partners I’d had before, the combined thickness not being overly great. My single cock was generally just slightly thicker than any Jinn cocks I’d taken together. Hylocereus’ individual cocks weren’t quite as thick as mine. Together they’d probably be close to the same thickness as my forearm. They were longer than any Jinn cocks I’d had the pleasure of, too. It was definitely something to give me pause but at the same time I really wanted to feel both his cocks in me at once.

 “Both at once is definitely going to be something to work up to. I’m a touch nervous as I’ve never taken anything that big but looking forward to it, too. Can I... can I touch you?”

 “Deagan, love, you never need to ask if you can touch me. Matter of fact, I highly encourage you to touch me to your heart’s content. Do you really want to try taking both my cocks at once? Don’t say you do or try to do it if that’s not what you want. Honestly, I don’t expect you to or even require that to find satisfaction. I would utterly adore it, yes, and view it as the gift it would be, but I don’t need it to happen.”

 “I want to try taking both. Not now as I’m really not ready for that sort of stretch today. But, yes, I want to take both another time.”

 Hylocereus’ smile was pleased and lecherous at the same time and made me smile in return. I reached out and ran my fingers lightly over his cocks, a wordless sound of delight coming from my throat. They felt very warm, almost hot. They were slick, more than I thought they should be even considering the spunk he’d rubbed over them. There were four; semi-stiff, blunted spikes part way down the shaft of each cock. The spikes were roughly half the size of my baby finger. Hylocereus groaned when I stroked my fingers over the spikes. The spikes seemed to firm a bit and flare outward under my light touch.

 “What’re these?” I asked as I continued to run my fingers over the spikes, fascinated and aroused at the way they and Hylocereus seemed to respond to my touch.

 “Breeding spikes. They stimulate my partner and make it difficult for me to pull out without discomfort to me and my partner after I come, ensuring that my seed stays where I plant it for as long as possible. They only harden fully if I’m trying to breed or very, very aroused. Or both, although that has only happened in combination once before. Unless I make an effort to soften the spikes, which is difficult but I can do, we’ll stay locked together for easily half an hour. It can be as long as an hour and a half but that only happened the one time when I was very aroused and deep in the breeding mindset.”

 “Spikes? They harden? Doesn’t that hurt the person you’re fucking?” I asked as I continued to glide my fingers over his dicks and play gently with the spikes.

 The spikes, while firm, weren’t hard like stone. They were more like really firm cartilage. I was a tiny bit leery of having spikes in my ass but at the same time it was very kinky to think about not being able to pull off his cock when I wanted to. The idea of being stuck on his cocks, unable to separate until he chose to let me go was strangely thrilling. It was also a little confusing as I’d never wanted to be held captive on a lover’s cocks. Truthfully, I’d never even thought about such a thing. I found it erotic to stroke his cocks and it was definitely arousing me to touch him and know that very soon I’d have one of his cocks inside me.

 “No. As I’m sure you can tell since you’re stroking them so wonderfully, they’re not sharp. I’ve been told they’re very arousing although, to be fair, I don’t have a large sample of opinions to base that off of,” he said as he drew me closer with his coils, positioning me just above his cocks, my legs spread to straddle his tail close to where his cocks emerged from.

 His snake half was easily as wide as my torso where he’d positioned me. I liked that my legs were spread wide over him. There was something submissive yet empowering to me to sit astride an aroused male. I truly loved spreading my legs for a man and taking cocks up the ass.

 “Males seem to take greater pleasure in the spikes than females because the spikes stimulate the prostate very firmly as I’m fucking them. After I come and if I’m locked together with my lover, the spikes pulse gently, which feels very good to me and my lover.”

 My spent cock twitched in interest at that. I liked prostate play quite a bit. The majority of my previous lovers enjoyed stimulating me that way so they could watch me come without a hand, mine or theirs, blocking their view of my dick. I was rather proud of the fact that I could be made to come quickly from having my ass fingered. On occasion, I’d even come simply from having cocks slide into my ass.

 While I didn’t like being used as a tool to satisfy someone else’s fetish, I really enjoyed it when a lover would make me come by prostate stimulation alone. There was just something intensely erotic to me about being on my back with my legs spread or on hands and knees with a man’s fingers stuffed up my ass, his goal to make me come from only ass play and zero stimulation to my dick.

 Despite the arousal starting to slither through me again, I didn’t think I’d be able to get hard before Hylocereus stuffed one of his cocks in my ass, which was a damn shame in my opinion. My orgasm had felt very, very good but I now wished that I’d been able to hold off on that until he was inside me. With the way he was making me feel I thought it was a very strong possibility that he could’ve made me come just by pushing his cock into me. _Damn_.

 “Not a large sample of opinions? What do you mean by that?” I asked as I took a dick in each hand and gave him an experimental stroke. Gods, he felt amazing in my hands.

 His eyes closed and he drew in a sharp breath before letting it out slowly and opening his eyes to stare at me. I slid my hands up the entire length of his cocks, want hitting me hard. The spikes flared out when I stroked him from the head to the root. That was wickedly arousing when I thought of them moving like that inside my ass, teasing my prostate. I really, really wanted to feel those spikes rubbing back and forth inside my ass as I was being fucked.

 “I’ve breed once with a goddess. I saw in a vision the child we’d have and the world needed him. Rhas-Khan, the child we had, is the God of the Abyss. For both me and the goddess, it was seen as a necessity for us to breed with each other. We raised him together although we were not lovers after that one time, nor had any desire to be.There were no deeper feelings involved although we have remained close friends and both love our son. Three other times I’ve had my spikes firm for my partner. Each of those times was with you in your various lives.

 “One of the times you were female but I couldn’t allow you to become pregnant by me. That was not the future for us so even though it was a soul deep pain for me; I made sure you couldn’t conceive with me. Doing that was heartbreaking and one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in all my existence. I was filled with grief for centuries at what needed to be done. After that, on the very rare opportunities that I had to be with you physically, I’d only come to you when you were male so I didn’t have to go through the anguish of breeding with you but needing to keep you from bearing me a child again.”

 I was startled by the little pinch of jealousy I felt at hearing that Hylocereus had a child. He was beyond ancient so it stood to reason that he’d likely have had a child or even multiple children during all that time. There was absolutely no reason for me to feel jealous but I did. I’d need to examine that bit of strangeness later.

 “Why do they feel so slick?” I asked as I stroked him a little more firmly, teasing myself by brushing the heads of his cocks against my balls. Surprisingly, my cock was starting to firm a little even though I’d literally come only moments ago. _Fantastic_.

 “Natural lubrication. It helps with the breeding process and sex in general. It’s obviously a great boon when it comes to sex with a male lover,” he said with a bit of a leer.

 I smiled back. “That is extremely handy and very appreciated.”

 Hylocereus lifted me a bit with his coils and drew me towards him. His hands smoothed back and forth over the insides of my thighs, the very tips of his fingers sliding behind my balls to tease over my hole. I had a moment of unease when I remembered the sharp claws on his fingers. I couldn’t feel anything scratching or jabbing me in a rather delicate place though.

 “Why don’t I feel your claws?” I asked after several minutes of gentle touches and very slight pressure, but no entry, on my hole that was slowly fanning the flames of my desire.

 “I can retract them. Sometimes a bit of roughness is desired in bed. Generally, roughness on a sensitive part like this is not appreciated. Although, one of your former selves greatly enjoyed that level of roughness as well as domination. You were one of my priests then and the one that I needed to make sure wouldn’t conceive with me. Matter of fact, now that I think about it, all of your previous selves that I’ve been blessed to enjoy a physical relationship with has enjoyed some level of roughness and domination in bed.”

 My breath hissed out of me, ending on a wanton moan when Hylocereus suddenly pushed two fingers inside my ass. It stung a bit to suddenly have something shoved in my ass but I liked it, too. I was surprised to feel slickness in my ass and gave Hylocereus a questioning look.

 “Godhood allows me to do many things. While we may both enjoy some aspects of roughness and domination, taking you dry, even if it’s just my fingers, would never happen. I’ve lubed your ass for both our comfort.”

 Well that was incredibly handy. And completely appreciated. Hylocereus stroked firmly over my prostate and his coils tightened around me at the same time. My cock twitched hard at that and started to firm, the muscles of my ass squeezing Hylocereus’ fingers tightly. He smiled slowly at me as he began to strongly pump my hole as I groaned in pleasure.

 “This pleases you, love?” he asked as he pressed firmly on my prostate again. “Would you like me to continue?”

 I groaned again, nodded my head and tightened around his fingers, pleasure slithering to my balls from his touch. “Gods, yes.”

 “I’m very glad to see the tradition of you enjoying some more forceful play has carried over to this lifetime. I’ll certainly be more than happy to give you whatever you need and desire,” he said as he began scissoring his fingers inside me.

 Hylocereus’ coils flexed around me as he worked my ass open, holding me tenderly but restraining me at the same time. I was surprised to find that sensation very arousing. I knew some people enjoyed being bound during sex but I’d never played that game. I’d never trusted or felt comfortable enough with any lovers to even want to try such a thing. I certainly was enjoying it now though.

 “When you’re ready, take me inside, love,” Hylocereus said in a desire heavy voice as he slowly withdrew his fingers from my ass and his coils lowered me closer to his cocks. “Or if you don’t feel ready for that, jerk me off. What we do and how intimate we become is for you to decide, Deagan. I’m beyond happy to have you close to me like this, to have seen you find pleasure from my touch and to have been able to finally tell you what we are and can be to each other and that I love you and have loved you for longer than you can imagine.”

 The control and power Hylocereus was giving me was damn near intoxicating. It was unexpectedly erotic, too. I rubbed his cock heads against my balls and taint, teasing both of us. He made sounds of pleasure deep in his throat. His coils shifted, tightened and loosened around me in a sensual rhythm that I really hoped he intended to continue once I had his cock inside me. I most definitely liked the sensation of being restrained by his coils.

 He never told me to hurry or demanded that I sit on his cocks despite my teasing both of us long enough for my dick to fully rise again. He stroked his hands over my body and murmured softly in multiple languages, none of which I understood. The reverence in his tone as he touched me though, that came through perfectly clear. I positioned one of his cocks against my loosened hole, rubbing the head back and forth.

 “Hold me tight and don’t let go,” I said a bit surprised at the words that left my mouth. “I want you inside me. Now.”

 The words and my desire for what I asked for was one hundred percent true although I didn’t know why I’d said to hold me tight and not let me go. Hylocereus opened his eyes fully and stared at me, the lust in his gaze deeply thrilling and arousing. I lowered myself onto his cock, my breath leaving me in a rush as the head popped in. The coils around me tightened hard as soon as the head breached my hole and Hylocereus hissed softly.

 Hylocereus’ eyes glittered with lust, drawing me in and making desire settle heavily in my balls. His coils not only kept me firmly bound but slowly pulled me down onto his cock as he stared deeply into my eyes. His cock felt amazing as it filled my ass. I was also getting a very strong thrill out of him pulling me down onto his cock using his tightly wrapped coils around my waist and chest. His eyes closed to slits briefly when he was fully embedded in my ass. His low groan of pleasure made my nipples tighten into rock hard nubs. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes again to stare deeply into mine.

 “Take my cock in hand with yours, love. Stroke us off as you ride me. I don’t think I’m going to be able to last as long as both of us would like. It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve had the pleasure of being with you and I’m incredibly excited right now.”

 I nodded and gripped my cock and Hylocereus’ in one hand. His lower body between my legs undulated, pulling his cock halfway out before pushing back in. I moaned as the spikes on the shaft of his cock rubbed back and forth over my prostate, stimulating it in a way that made pleasure rush through me. I began stroking our cocks, trying to match the rhythm of the lower half of his body as he slowly thrust in and out of my ass.

 Hylocereus covered my hand with one of his and guided me into the rhythm he was using to fuck me. I groaned once I was moving on concert with him, the pleasure intense. The spikes on his cocks thrilled me. I hadn’t expected to enjoy the ones on the dick that wasn’t in my ass but they were an unusual and erotic sensation as they rubbed against my cock. The ones in my ass felt amazing and I deeply enjoyed the way they were stroking back and forth over my prostate.

 Hylocereus moved his hands to my hips, his grip firm as he began to undulate his lower body faster under me. His coils still held me tight around my waist and chest as he moved me forcefully over his cock. Need twisted through me as I stared into Hylocereus’ eyes and could clearly see the lust in them. It drove my arousal higher to know that his lust was for me as a person and not because of some fetish he had for one part of me. That was incredibly heady and erotic to me.

 As I watched him, a soft, white glow seemed to seep from him, stopping several inches from his body. Where the glow touched me, I felt warmth that wasn’t only a physical sensation against my skin. It felt welcoming, loving and deeply spiritual. It made my throat feel tight with unexpected emotions. He frowned a little and the area of the glow reduced by half but was still easily visible and lapped gently at my skin giving me pleasure.

 “What is this?” I asked as I passed my free hand through the glow, a small sound of approval coming from my throat at the pleasant tingles against my skin. “It feels really good. Erotic but comforting at the same time.”

 “It’s a physical manifestation of my divine glow. I don’t allow it to appear when near mortals as they frequently find it as exhausting as it is pleasant. I’m having trouble keeping it contained at the moment because of you. It happens sometimes when a god experiences soul-deep joy.”

 “I like it,” I said as I passed my hand through the soft white glow again. “Don’t hold back on my account.”

 “Deagan, love, I don’t want to wear you out. At least not so soon after finally being able to join with you.”

 I chuckled. “So I have a little nap afterwards. It’s fine. I’m fine. It feels really good on top of everything else.”

 “As you wish, love,” he said with a pleased smile.

 The glow expanded to a point even wider than what I’d first seen. It was easily two feet away from his body and enveloped me entirely. I shivered and moaned softly at how good it felt against my skin and how it increased the arousal I was already feeling.

 “Come for me, Deagan. Let me feel and see your pleasure again,” he said with a hint of command in his voice.

 He moved his body under me faster, the cock in my ass and in my hand pumping hard. Lust pooled in my balls. I panted as I rode his cock, pleasure sliding through me with every thrust he made. I grunted as my balls drew tight and my orgasm washed over me. Hylocereus surged into me and stilled. I swore softly as I felt his cock begin spurting in my ass at the same time that the one I held pressed to my twitching cock began pulsing. By the gods, that felt amazing.

 Every time his cocks shot a load of come, the spikes flared and pulsed. It was intensely erotic and unlike anything I’d ever felt. I was startled at how much fulfilment I felt at seeing our seed mix on the skin of his belly. My balls were empty before his and both of us were breathing hard by the time his cocks stopped spurting. He sat up, cupped the back of my head and kissed me deeply. When he drew back from the kiss, he had a very satisfied expression on his face that I was sure was mirrored on mine.

 “That was amazing and I can’t even begin to tell you how pleased I am to be seated inside you. I should’ve warned you that the moment you accepted me into your body, I fell into a breeding mindset. We’ll be joined like this for at least an hour, possibly longer, unless I make the spikes soften. I don’t want to do that but I will if it’s what you desire.

 “I can be very selfish where you’re concerned and I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to finally be locked together with you after waiting so long since the last time we could be together. I’d apologize if I was sorry but I’m not. I love you and want to be your husband. Because of that, I’d say that easily half of the time when we have penetrative sex, I’m going to be viewing it as a breeding opportunity even though I know you can’t bear me any children. You’re going to find yourself locked on my cocks frequently, Deagan.”

 My hole clenched tight in pleasure at that. I gasped softly when the spikes on Hylocereus’ cocks flared hard in response, sending lazy heat through me. The spikes were turning out to be an unexpected erotic addition that I liked a lot. Even though I was deeply enjoying the sensation of his cock in my ass and the spikes flaring gently, I was suddenly curious about how hard it would be to pull off him. I pushed against his loose hold and started to rise off his cock.

 Barely two or three inches of his cock slide from my ass before triggering a response. I gasped in surprise when the spikes flared wide, stretching my insides suddenly. It wasn’t painful but it was startling and intensely arousing in a very kinky way. I pulled off a little more and bit back the moan of pleasure when the spikes flared more, stretching my insides even wider. Gods, that felt incredibly good and the kinkiest thing I’d ever experienced. I liked it. A lot.

 Hylocereus frowned, grasped my hips and quickly pulled me back down onto his cock. The widely positioned spikes rubbed hard over my sensitive prostate forcing a dribble of seed from me and making my breath catch at the almost too good feel. Once his cock was fully seated inside me, the flare of the spikes decreased. I wanted to pull back again to see just how wide his spikes would go. It would probably blow my mind at how intense and erotic that would feel.

 “Deagan, love, I told you we’d be locked together. Why did you do that? You’ll hurt yourself.” Concern was in his voice and expression. “I said I can pull out if you want me to, but you need to tell me before attempting anything on your own. It’ll take me several minutes before I can even try to do that without making either one of us very uncomfortable.”

 “I wanted to see how difficult it would be to pull off your cock. I’ve never been in this sort of situation before and I was curious.” I frowned when I belatedly remembered what else he’d said about being locked in my ass. “Did I hurt you by trying to pull off your cock? Gods, I didn’t even think of that when I tried to move.”

 “No, I’m fine. It only becomes very uncomfortable for me when my partner manages to pull off to the point where the spikes are very close to their entrance. Then the spikes are positioned far beyond their normal range of motion. It’s like having your arm held behind your back and pushed upwards. It borders on painful, but it’s manageable.

 “I’ve been told by previous lovers that the stretch of the flared spikes at their maximum hurts them a good deal, especially if I’m seated in my partner’s ass and if I have both cocks inside them. Both my cocks in someone’s ass, male or female, requires a little work and patience to take something that thick. When the spikes flare, it nearly doubles the thickness suddenly.”

 A little jolt of arousal fizzed through me at what he said about the flaring of his cock spikes. I enjoyed the sensation of my hole being stretched to accept cocks. One of my newer toys was tapered to be quite girthy near the base. I’d yet to take all of it inside me although it wasn’t because of lack of trying.

 It burned to open my hole wide with that toy but felt erotic at the same time. I’d never been comfortable enough with previous lovers to mention the thrill I felt at being opened wide. In my mind it required a level of trust and faith in a lover that I’d never had.

 The way the spikes flared on Hylocereus’ cock in my ass was taking the stretch I enjoyed to a new and intensely erotic level for me. One I liked even better than having my hole opened to accept a lover’s cock. As I stared into Hylocereus’ gorgeous eyes something about them had me uttering words I could’ve sworn I had no intention of saying.

 “I like having my ass opened to take cocks. I really liked feeling your spikes stretch my insides wide so suddenly. It was incredibly arousing.”

 My cheeks warmed and I looked down, embarrassment rushing through me at my admission. I sucked in a sharp breath of pleasure when I felt the spikes flare wide again, pushing hard on my prostate. Hylocereus tipped my face up to his with a gentle finger under my chin.

 “Never be ashamed of the joy we find together, love. I’m beyond happy that you enjoy my rather unique physical features. I don’t mean just the spikes on my cocks but also being embraced by my tail and the sensation of my divine glow. I was worried you’d be unsettled by at least one of those things. Some of your incarnations have been frightened by my appearance or didn’t find me sexually appealing. I’m incredibly relieved and happy to find that you enjoy me as I am in this incarnation. Let me wallow in the pleasure of just holding you once more. It has been many hundreds of years since I’ve had the delight of you in my arms.”

 He kissed me softly, his coils slithering away so he could firmly hold me pressed chest to chest in his arms. I expected to feel our cooling come between us when he did that and was puzzled when I didn’t. I’d have to ask about that later. He lay back against the nest of furs and pillows with me draped over his chest, his cock firmly planted in my ass and began slow sweeps of his hands over my body. His divine glow covered me completely. I’d never felt such peace, love and quiet joy.

 For the first time in my life, I felt complete. It brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to ask if I’d pleased him despite only having one cock but I couldn’t force the words past my lips. I didn’t want to say anything that might destroy the way I was feeling at that moment.

 Hylocereus said nothing about the tears and started to tell me of the things he’d seen and done over his very long life. My eyes closed at the soothing sound of his voice, the relaxing motion of his hands and the steady thumping of his heart under my ear. I smiled softly when I realized that the spikes flared gently in time with every fifth beat of his heart. I could most certainly get used to this very quickly.

 *****

 I woke slowly, a deep feeling of rightness filling me. I was still laying on Hylocereus, snuggled in his arms. I looked up and saw that his gorgeous eyes were closed. His breathing was deep and even and the divine glow was gone. His cock was no longer in my ass which was a bit disappointing but expected. I looked to one of the windows and saw that dusk had painted the sky in shades of pink, red and purple. I swore softly and pushed up.

 Hylocereus’ eyes snapped open and his arms tightened around me. “Deagan?”

 “It’s dusk. I need to call in my larinvacs, if they’re not already milling around the barn, and get them settled for the night,” I said as I pushed strongly against the hold he had on me. It both thrilled and annoyed me when I realized I didn’t have a prayer of getting out of his arms unless he wanted to let me go.

 “I’ll come with you. I find myself reluctant to let you out of my sight now that I’ve revealed everything to you and you’ve accepted my being intimately involved in your life. That need to constantly be near you should ease after a few hundred years. No more than three hundred I’d think.”

 I stared at him not sure if he was joking or not. Jinn lived for several centuries but we weren’t the longest lived species by a long shot. I’d be well into being an elder Jinn after three hundred years passed. I was considered on the upper edge of young adult at two hundred and twenty-five but I hadn’t heard of a lot of Jinn that made it past six hundred years old.

 “I’ll be an old man then, Hylocereus. I’m sure you know Jinn don’t typically live more than six hundred years.”

 “Yes, I know. I’m assuming that you’ll come to love me as I love you well before that and agree to become my husband. Time will have no meaning for you then as far as aging goes. I would adore having you forever as you are now because this virile look is very beautiful and arousing. However, it is but a shell and I will be blessed to have you as my husband regardless of what you look like physically. I will tell you as often as you can stand to hear it. I love your soul, Deagan. This pretty shell is simply a wonderful bonus.”

 His words and the intense stare he was giving me made warmth spread through me like sunlight after a long darkness. Impulse made me kiss him quickly on the lips. He was surprised for only a handful of seconds before he cupped the back of my head and kissed me thoroughly, putting a truly staggering amount of love into the kiss. When I drew back both of us were breathing hard and my dick was waking up in interest. Regretfully, I had a duty to my animals that came before the wants of my body.

 “I really need to go bring in my larinvacs before my cock starts issuing all the orders, as much as certain parts of me would really like that. You need to let me go to attend them and you can’t come with me. They’re already afraid of you and I don’t need the extra trouble of trying to round them up for the night when they’re skittish.”

 Hylocereus stared at me for a few moments before sighing and reluctantly releasing me. “I can make my presence unknown so as not to disturb them but I know you need a little time alone to think about all that I’ve told you and what’s happened between us. I will try not to crowd you constantly but be aware that will be a struggle for me as I want to wrap you in my coils, seat you on my cocks and never let you go.”

 I licked my lips at his words. My dick and ass had zero problems with that idea. They were actually rather eager for it. I heard bleating that had a petulant, angry tone and sighed. That was Phil complaining about his dinner being late. _Wonderful_. He was going to be a sulky asshole. I’d probably be extremely lucky to not get either bitten or spit at by him.

 I pushed up and off Hylocereus with another sigh and stood. Phil bleated again, louder this time, and some of the rest of the herd called out as well. Damn Phil for starting to rile up the rest of the herd. I grabbed my pants and shirt from the floor and dressed, looking to Hylocereus when I heard him sigh softly.

 “You look wonderful naked. I want to keep you that way for my pleasure. But I understand you should probably be dressed to do your chores. I’ll be waiting more or less patiently for you to return to me. Perhaps I could interest you in testing out my other cock in your ass when you get back.”

 I grinned. “In that case, I might just throw the food at the larinvacs and let them squabble over it to get back here sooner.”

 Hylocereus laughed, rose up to my height and kissed me again before drawing back and giving me a little push. “Go do what you must before I change my mind, feed your larinvacs for you and keep you here firmly seated on my cock until neither of us can move. I should warn you that the stamina of a god is well beyond what any mortal could possibly have. I was not overstating it when I said I could love you into exhaustion.”

 I stared at him blankly for a moment. “You could do that? Feed them without moving from my living room so I could stay impaled on your cock while you fuck me into oblivion?” There was a hell of a lot of appeal in that idea.

 “I am a God, love. That would be a nothing drop of power to do. If you desired it, I could take you, your animals and everything on your lands to my palace and it would still be a nothing drop of power to me. Or I could move my palace here and it would still be an inconsequential amount of power for me to expend.”

 I knew I was looking at him with a little shock and awe. He chuckled and placed a finger under my chin, gently closing my mouth.

 “You’ll eventually get used to and understand the breadth of my power. Until then I’ll selfishly enjoy the looks of awe and wonder I’ll draw from you. Go. The sooner you do what you must, the sooner we can both enjoy my cock in your ass. And just to be perfectly clear, Deagan; I won’t ever fuck you. I’ll make love to you. As often as you’ll let me.”

 I walked out of my house, my head suddenly whirling and my cock half hard.

 I’d never considered how much I’d like hearing a lover say they’d make love to me. In all honesty, I hadn’t thought it would make a difference to call sex between individuals either fucking or making love. Apparently there was a mental difference in hearing that. It felt... more. More special, more meaningful, more intimate. Just more of everything and I hadn’t expected that at all.

 I knew he was a god and hadn’t forgotten that for a second. But aside from knowing he had visions that he used to direct the actions  of other gods, which was boggling, and knowing that he knew of all the mysteries of the universes, which was even more staggering, I’d never really given thought to him doing other things with the power he had as a god.

 While my farm wasn’t a huge operation because it was just me running it, it was still a fair sized piece of land. I was willing to bet that he had a decent estimate of the size of it given that he’d been wandering around my property for days before letting me find him in the tree. I’d never seen any pictures of his palace but just the fact that he called it a palace and he was a god suggested to me that it was a structure of significant size. That he said he could move either of those things from one location to another and it would be nothing to him to do.... Just wow.

 Phil and the rest of the herd milled around the door to the barn. I needed to keep the door locked with a key because larinvacs were surprisingly smart and had my herd had figured out how to open not only the barn door but the door to the feed room as well. The first time they had done that, they’d eaten to the point of puking. Barfing larinvacs were very unpleasant on several levels and the smell had made me gag repeatedly. Not to mention that it had been seven kinds of disgusting to clean up all that puke. My bank account had taken a nasty hit in order to replace all the feed they’d eaten and then thrown back up. I had no desire to have any of that repeat itself.

 Phil glared at me and bawled his displeasure. I saw his head pull back as he readied to spit. I threw out a cantrip to counter his spit and grinned when the glob of green-blue spit sailed harmlessly past me, the sudden gust of wind from my spell making the spit veer away. As long as I could see the attack coming from Phil, he usually didn’t hit me. But he was smart and a cagey bastard so he’d often wait until my back was turned or he was just out of my line of sight before trying something. I doubted the spit attack would be the only thing he tried on me this evening.

 I pushed against Phil to get him out of the way, a little smile touching my lips at the ultra soft feel of his hair. He was a pain in my ass most of the time but he also had the nicest, softest hair of all my larinvacs. He moved but only because he heard the jingle of the keys, saw them in my hand and knew that meant supper was almost in front of him. If he really didn’t want to move I’d have had a hard time getting all five hundred or so pounds of him to move.

 Phil could be a dick about moving and actively resist being moved because I wanted or needed him to move. I could eventually get him to move using brute force and several cantrips but it was a hassle I didn’t feel like dealing with. Fortunately Phil wanted to eat more than he wanted to be an asshole so he stepped aside right away.

 I got the larvinvacs settled in the barn and happily munching away on their feed. Phil tried spitting on me again but failed. I thought it was because he was so eager to eat that he hadn’t given it his best effort, which probably would’ve succeeded. One of the other larinvacs, Ashley, was fretting and I needed to calm her down before I could go. She was by far the most skittish of my herd likely because she had been a wild larinvac I’d stumbled across and rescued from certain death.

 She was currently pregnant for the first time and far too young to safely start having offspring. I’d found her caught in a stray fishing net near shore, unable to free herself. That was probably how she ended up pregnant in the first place; tied up and not able to get away from any horny male that happened to hear her cries. I had no idea how long she’d been trapped there but she’d been in rough shape when I found her.

 That had been months ago and she’d filled out nicely with regular care and a good diet. Her hair wasn’t as nice and silky as my domesticated larinvacs but it had an interesting sheen to it and it took dye surprisingly well, which was a huge deal for larinvac hair. Breeding her with some of the males in the herd when she was more mature and less wary of males could produce some offspring with easier dying hair, which was always prized. Phil would be a good choice in that area if she’d allow it.

 Oddly, Phil had taken an immediate, protective shine to her, which was great to help keep her safe. I thought it was hilarious that she didn’t trust him and would frequently spit, bite and kick him, preferring to be near the other females of the herd. It didn’t stop Phil from trying to stay next to her though, persistent asshole that he was.

 I locked the barn door behind me and started back to my house, a little pleasure shiver running through me when I thought of what would be happening in the next few minutes. I was very much looking forward to taking Hylocereus’ cock again. I’ve love to get both of them in my ass but one encounter, flaring breeding spikes aside, did not make that a sudden possibility. That would be a lot of cock to take at once.

 I nearly jumped out of my skin and yelped when my arm was grabbed as I passed the wood pile. I was spun around and my back slammed into the stacked wood. I grunted and immediately drew back my free arm to throw a wild punch. There shouldn’t be anyone capable of grabbing me on my property since I’d had it warded specifically to keep people out. Hylocereus could be anywhere he damn well pleased but I highly doubted he’d randomly grab me and slam my back into the wood pile.

 A punch did happen but it wasn’t my fist that connected with anything. My breath whooshed out of as a fist drove into my gut. I tried sucking air back into my lungs and yanked on the arm somebody was holding with bruising force to no effect. I looked up to see Ranile grinning viciously at me.

  _Shit_.

 “Long time no see, Deagan. Took me a while to find somebody with enough skills and few morals to break through the wards you had cast on this place. Must’ve cost you a good chunk of money to get that done since they’re apparently really good. I didn’t think you had access to that kind of coin. Or did you work out some other kind of payment? You are one hell of a cock sucker and have a tight, greedy-for-cocks hole.”

 I glared at Ranile and finally managed to get air flowing through my lungs again. “Obviously I didn’t get a good enough job done if you were able to find someone to get you through the wards.”

 I hadn’t sucked anybody off or let someone fuck me to get the wards done and I was sure Ranile knew that. He was just being a huge asshole. I knew the work done was very good as I’d gone through a Guild to hire a well-trained professional.  I’d nearly drained my bank account, gave over a medium sized tapestry I’d woven and two yards of larinvac fabric to pay for the work. Larinvac fabric was extremely expensive and just two yards of it could cost a merchant half a year’s worth of profits to purchase. Only royalty and disgustingly wealthy nobles could afford clothing made of larinvac fabric.

 The amount Ranile must’ve paid to get someone to break the wards I’d had put in place had to be crazy high. While I wasn’t happy that he’d managed to break the wards so he could enter, I was happy that his wallet probably took a huge blow to make that happen. Ranile didn’t like parting with any of his money unless he absolutely had to.

 “Money well spent and I can always make more. I know you can get the wards done again but I also know it’ll take time for you to find someone and gather the funds. As good as you are at cock sucking and as fantastic a ride as your ass is, I’ll probably be able to come and go as I please for months before you can get it done. And it’s going to please me a hell of a lot to come frequently,” he said with a nasty laugh.

 I scowled at Ranile and threw out a cantrip, greasing his hand, and allowing me to slip from his hold. He swore and threw out a spell, sticking my feet firmly to the ground before I’d taken more than three steps. I cursed and dropped to hands and knees, my forward momentum combined with the spell making me fall forward. Ranile chuckled and I glared at him over my shoulder. He knew there wasn’t a cantrip to counter the spell he’d used. He also knew that I rarely bothered to remember spells since I almost never used them in my daily life. That was probably going to have to change.

 “Just the way I like you. On hands and knees waiting for my cocks. So you don’t get any other stupid ideas, how about a little silence from you?” Ranile said.

 I felt the spell hit me, dread twisting through my guts. I tried to fight it off but it was powerful. Far too powerful for Ranile to know and use. I felt it the second I failed to keep the spell from completing. _Fuck_. Ranile wasn’t a magic user and shouldn’t know a spell that powerful. This was not good. I sat back on my heels and glared at him over my shoulder, words I wanted to yell at him trapped in my throat no matter how hard I tried to push them out. He grinned and pulled an amulet out of his shirt.

 “Paid extra for this pretty bauble and it’s most definitely worth it. You can’t speak for two hours once I activate it and after this, anytime you try to tell anyone about our encounters, you’re under a geas to remain silent about it and won’t be able to get a single word out. I get to fuck you however I want and you can’t tell me to stop nor can you report what’s happening. I told you I’d have you again and now I do. Am I a fucking genius or what?”

 Fury burned through me. I hadn’t thought Ranile was so bound up in his sexual fetish for what I lacked that he’d go to this sort of extreme. This was definitely a harsh life lesson to learn. I wasn’t about to kneel in the dirt and let him do whatever he wanted to me though. I’d fight as best I could and hope like hell I’d hurt him bad enough so that he’d leave before he did anything more than he’d already done.

 I couldn’t speak so I couldn’t shout for help. I’d walked out of the house without any sort of weapon because I was just going to feed my herd and wild animals never came close to the house and barn because of the wards against them. The wards to keep people off my property, as far as I’d known, were up and running so random people showing up to harass me hadn’t been any kind of concern to me.

 A slow smile curved my lips up when I thought of the utterly over-powered trump card I could play. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure this would work but I thought my odds were very good that it would. Nothing ventured, nothing gained either.

 “Why are you smiling?” Ranile asked suspiciously.

  _“Lord Hylocereus, I humbly beg your aid to help fend off a predator threatening me with bodily harm,”_ I prayed silently.

 I fully intended to add more to my prayer but Hylocereus appeared in front of me before I could pray more. The level of wrath written on his face and in his body language was staggering and actually scared me even though I knew I wasn’t the cause of his anger. His eyes were closed but I somehow knew the second they opened, Ranile would be in for a world of hurt like he’d never dreamed possible. Ranile stared for several seconds, obviously not believing who he was seeing.

 Hylocereus’ coiled his tail around my waist and effortlessly picked me up from the ground, the spell holding me in place breaking effortlessly. He brought me close to his body, standing me on my feet. He slipped his arm around me and drew me to him. His eyes opened to slits and he took a quick look over me. He must’ve seen something he didn’t like as I heard a low hiss of displeasure from him. I felt the magic silencing me melt away faster than ice under the summer sun at mid-day.

 Hylocereus turned his head from me, opened his eyes and stared at Ranile. I felt a vicious amount of pleasure in seeing a dark stain immediately spread across the front of Ranile’s pants. I also caught the whiff of fresh shit seconds after Ranile farted loudly. Ranile’s eyes were wide in stark fear as he stared at Hylocereus, unable to look away.

 “This is the Ranile you spoke of.” Hylocereus said it as a statement not a question. “What would you like me to do with him, love? I know what I’d like to do to him but the insult was delivered to you so it is your right to decide.”

 Ranile started to say something but was suddenly rendered mute with a casual wave of Hylocereus’ hand.

 “I was not talking to you. You are never to speak again in this life or any future lives.” There was definite godly resonance and command in Hylocereus’ tone.

 I stared at Hylocereus with wide eyes. “You can do that? Keep him from ever speaking again in any life?”

 Hylocereus smiled at me. “Yes, my love, I can. I am an Elder God with infinite power. He is a mortal soul, subject to the whims of the gods. If he were like you, then no, I couldn’t. At least not beyond this life, but you are special. Ra-Sui might be a little vexed with me for this as he is the Guardian of Souls but he will understand when I explain why I’ve done what I have. He will also be unable to reverse what I have done unless he decides to heal the soul by taking it into himself as he is not an Elder God. That is a long and arduous process for him. I doubt he’ll undertake that for this soul.”

 Ranile was now visibly shaking. His eyes held abject fear and tears coursed down his cheeks. He didn’t try to run but for all I knew Hylocereus was keeping him exactly where he was. I was utterly sure I’d have no further trouble from Ranile. He was incredibly self-centered but he wasn’t stupid. I was sure he’d heard Hylocereus call me his love more than once. One did not toy with or try to harm the object of a god’s affections unless death was actively being sought.

 “Let him go. I highly doubt I’ll have any further trouble from him. You’ve made him mute. He’s going to have a hard time conducting his business and interacting with others from now on. That’s enough for me. I’m content with never having to see or deal with him again, which I’m certain isn’t going to be an issue.”

 “You’re much more forgiving than I am, Deagan. Are you sure? It is nothing for me snuff his life out. I am sorely tempted. I haven’t been this angry in thousands of years.”

 “No. He’s an asshole but he doesn’t deserve to die for being one. I also don’t want his death on my conscience.”

 Hylocereus sighed, a world of disappointment in the sound. “As you wish, love.”

 He looked at Ranile and the air suddenly became heavier. I made a sound of surprise in my throat when I felt and saw Hylocereus’ divine glow appear. His voice deepened and took on a quality I could only call godly in nature.

 “Know that you continue to live only by the grace of Deagan. Should I hear of any harm or misfortune to befall him instigated by you in any way; and I will know the instant it happens, you will pray for death to take you quickly. You could pray with all your heart for Ra-Sui to come take your soul but he will not risk his immortal life to cross me and the punishment I will deliver to you. You have caught the eye of a god in a most unfortunate way. I will be watching you always for any misstep.”

 I’d never seen such absolute terror on someone’s face in the seconds before Ranile vanished. I looked at Hylocereus a question on my lips.

 “He is at his home, unharmed but scared out of his mind. Are you truly sure you wish to allow him to live? I saw what he had planned for you over the course of months. It was a series of very ugly things. You have no idea the amount of rage I feel at the moment. Fine, he’ll never come anywhere near you for the rest of his life but I don’t care. I want him dead and it can’t happen soon enough.”

 I rested my palm against Hylocereus’ chest. His heart thumped strongly against my hand. I had a giddy sort of feeling building in my chest. I believed what he said about Ranile never coming near me again. I certainly wouldn’t when faced with the wrath of a god, especially when said god was the god I worshipped.

 “He doesn’t deserve any further thought from either of us. He’ll live but it’ll be a diminished life he’ll lead. He’ll need to figure out how to communicate with others now and since a good bit of his business relies on verbal communication with others, it’s going to be hard for him. Just explaining how he became mute is going to be tough. I don’t think he’s going to even try lying about that either. He’s too frightened. That was clear enough for anyone to see.

 “As for what he planned, it went nowhere and nothing happened aside from pissing me off. I wouldn’t have let him catch me unaware a second time. The amulet silenced me, yes, but I don’t need to speak to be able to use a blade. I’d have done my best to kill him if he’d come at me again. I won’t kill if my life isn’t in danger or for revenge. That’s not me.”

 Hylocereus looked at me, the brilliant blue of his eyes mesmerizing, and cupped my face. “No, it isn’t. You’re a good, honourable man, Deagan, and far more forgiving than many. I’m proud of what you’ve become. I’d like to show you my home. I’d like you to consider it your home, too, because it is. Will you come with me? Not forever, although I’d love for that to happen, but simply to see what I wish to share with you. I know you have a duty to your animals and work that you’re under obligation for and I won’t interfere with that. You have my word as an Elder God.

 “I’d also like to introduce you to Rhas-Khan. Even if becoming my husband doesn’t happen in this lifetime, I’d still like for you to meet those who are important to me and he is one of them. You won’t be able to meet his husband yet. They haven’t met and won’t for some time to come although Rhas-Khan doesn’t know that. I have seen their union and have been working to bring it to fruition. It takes time to find the right soul to become the partner of a god. Especially for one such as Rhas-Khan.”

 “You’re match-making for your son? And he’s okay with that? I’d be mad as hell if either of my parents tried that on me.” It still bothered me a bit to think of Hylocereus having a child with someone which was completely irrational. I really needed to sit down and think about why that was.

 “He doesn’t know although he’ll figure it out quickly once they meet. Very little escapes The Abyss. His husband will be Mage-born and they are extremely difficult to bring into existence. I also need to work within the timeframe I’ve been shown, which is challenging as well,” Hylocereus said with a chuckle.

 “The Abyss? You’re going to send his husband to the Abyss and... what? Make Lord Rhas-Khan go rescue him or something? No offence, Hylocereus, but that sounds like you’re trying to piss off your son by endangering his future husband. What’s the point in doing that?”

 Hylocereus laughed and gave me a quick kiss. “No, love. Rhas-Khan is not only the God of the Abyss, he _is_ The Abyss. When you stare into The Abyss you look into his eyes and The Abyss most certainly looks back at you. You will see all that you were, are and have the potential to be when you look into The Abyss. Many are not as ready to see that as they believe. Have no worries though as Rhas-Khan knows full well the power of his gaze and does not look willy-nilly at people.”

 “Looking at his eyes is like looking at yours then?” I was excited at the idea of meeting another god in person but suddenly wary, too. “Your eyes are beautiful but very, very dangerous in a way that I can’t really articulate well. I feel like it would be insanity to stare too long at your eyes but I want to anyway. They’re beautiful and mesmerizing. That probably sounds stupid but I swear that’s how it feels.”

 Hylocereus looked startled for a moment before he grinned and kissed me fiercely. “Yes, my love, staring into my eyes can make mortals go insane in a surprisingly short amount of time which is why I rarely open them around mortals. While you are currently mortal, there’s also special circumstances where you’re concerned. You will not be affected by my gaze because of what you are so never fear looking into my eyes. I’m wonderfully surprised you realized that aspect of my godhood since only my Priesthood are aware of that. Shall we go? I’m very eager to show you the place I hope you’ll soon call home.”

 I nodded and one moment we were in the front yard of my home and the next we were in an opulent bedroom that was larger than my entire house. Even though I’d never been in the room before and Hylocereus said nothing, I had no doubts that I was standing in his bedroom and that it was a very private place to him. It had an understated luxury to it that I found appealing. Although I’d only been standing in the room for bare seconds, I felt comfortable in it. It felt like I’d finally, truly, come home.

 “No mortal or god, save me, has ever been in this room. This is our bedroom alone and I refused to allow the memory of any others into this space. With this seal you may travel here any time you wish,” he said as he pushed aside the edge of my shirt and gently pressed his palm over my heart.

 Warmth spread under his hand and when he moved it, a tiny Jinn glyph for the word key was stamped in gold and edged in black a few inches above my nipple. I traced a finger over the glyph surprised to find no difference in the feel of the skin under my finger.

 “Think of this room and have the desire to be here and you will be. Nothing and no one except me can erase this or make it stop working. I will always hear your prayers to me and respond immediately either as a voice in your head or by appearing in person. I have loved you for aeons and will love you to the end of time and beyond. I hope to someday receive your love and that you will do me the extreme honour of becoming my husband.

 “Until then, allow me to be with you and get to know me as your lover and partner. Take your time, as much of it as you need, to figure out your feelings. I will wait patiently for you no matter how long it takes. I have eternity. I’m obviously hoping it doesn’t take that long for you to fall in love with me but if it does, then it does. Hearing you say you love me as your partner and want to be my husband is worth any amount of time.”

 Hylocereus drew me into his arms and kissed me gently. It was dead easy to feel the amount of love he had for me in his kiss. I had a lot to things to sort out in my head but I highly doubted it would take me eternity to figure out where my feelings lay for him. I’d still take my time and be sure of what I felt because both of us deserved that.

 In the mean time, I most certainly wasn’t opposed to seeing just how well our bodies liked each other. I was two hundred percent sure Hylocereus would be on board with that idea, too. I grabbed his hand and tugged him in the direction of the massive bed dominating the room.

 “You said something about wanting me to test out your other cock to see if I liked it as much as the first one.”

 Hylocereus laughed, wrapped a coil of his tail around my waist and lifted me off my feet. We were on the bed, naked in each other’s arms, and lying on the furs before I finished blinking. His cocks were out, hard and rubbing against mine in a way that I most definitely enjoyed immensely. I was really getting to like certain aspects of his godhood.

 “It would be my absolute pleasure to have you test out my other cock. Matter of fact, I suggest multiple tests with both cocks to make sure you come to a fair conclusion.”

 I nodded, a grin on my lips. “Makes perfect sense to me. Eventually I think I’ll need to test them at the same time. To be thorough.”

 “I am yours to command, my love,” he said before kissing me gently.

 His eyes opened and I lost myself in the entrancing, shimmering blue of his gaze. A feeling of rightness settled over me. This was where I was meant to be. Despite those soul deep feelings, I was still going to take my time to get to know Hylocereus as I needed to for both of us. I knew with absolute certainty that we were going to enjoy the journey.


End file.
